Current Event: Border Issues

I found this today in the San Diego News on Sign on San Diego. It's great news to hear that our city leaders oppose the immigration law in Arizona.

Here's the Article below:

San Diego council opposes Arizona law
Immigration measure is ‘un-American,’ Gloria says

By Craig Gustafson, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Originally published May 3, 2010 at 5:18 p.m., updated May 3, 2010 at 11:16 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — With references to Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews and the struggle for civil rights in this country, San Diego’s leaders said they felt compelled to formally oppose the new immigration law passed in Arizona.

The symbolic gesture, which urges Arizona lawmakers to repeal the law, won City Council approval Monday on a 7-1 vote, with Councilman Carl DeMaio voting against the resolution.

The law makes it a crime to be in the state without legal status and requires local police to question people suspected of being in the country illegally.

Proponents of the law say it is necessary because of the federal government’s failure to curb the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants across the border. Opponents say it will lead to racial profiling and harassment.

Councilman Todd Gloria said the law is “fundamentally un-American.”

“Those who do not speak out often come to regret their silence in time,” he said. “Today, this council, through this resolution, will make clear that we will not stand by and watch the erosion of freedom in our own backyard.”

The council’s resolution states that the Arizona law encourages racial profiling and violates the U.S. Constitution.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad, who supports the law, said the resolution’s language shows that city officials never actually read the law.

“It’s just astonishing how quickly elected officials would jump off the cliff on this thing,” he said. “The facts don’t matter here, it’s all political posturing.”

DeMaio voted against the resolution because he said it needed to include clarifications that Arizona passed a subsequent bill that made several changes to the original law, such as specifically prohibiting racial profiling. In addition, he wanted to add language urging the federal government to take immediate action to secure the nation’s borders.

“We need to speak from a position of principle and a position of fact as well as a position of balance,” DeMaio said.

Councilman Tony Young refused to add DeMaio’s language to his original motion to approve the resolution.

“I won’t do it because … the legislation is flawed from its beginning,” he said.

The audience, which included dozens of people who spoke against the law, responded with loud applause. There were no public speakers in opposition.

The resolution will be forwarded to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Craig Gustafson: (619) 293-1399; craig.gustafson@uniontrib.com

Craig Gustafson: (619) 293-1399; craig.gustafson@uniontrib.com