Immigration. Arizona is right, and they know it.

Tonight on the (Nobody's Watching) CBS News, they followed an illegal immigrant and his citizen "partner" as they complained about the new Arizona enforcement law and participated in a protest in Arizona.  Of course, CBS pretty easily found this 4 year illegal, and refused to film his face, since he's now scared that if he's discovered, Arizona might actually enforce the law and send him back to Mexico.

His "partner" is packing their things. I guess so they can make a quick getaway, or maybe they're planning on moving from Arizona to a state that cares less about our immigration laws. Like broke California?

So, what are we to make of the Arizona law? The Left wants everyone to think this is just a bunch of racists white guys who want to see darker-skinned people thrown out of the country.

The reality is that this is much less nefarious, but about as simple. You see, we have laws in this country that dictate how one enters the country and ultimately becomes a citizen. Those laws need to be enforced, and we need to have a REAL, HONEST debate about legal immigration - how many people we will allow in the country, what we need them to be able to do, and how we will put them on a path to citizenship. Unfortunately, the Left sees illegal immigration as the fastest path to add millions more to the lower, indebted-to-Liberals class, and ultimately turn them into Democrat voters.  It's all about power with Liberals.

The Conservative, on the other hand, sees immigration much more pragmatically. We're able to argue intellectually that in an age where the average white American family has settled into a birthrate less than 2 kids/household, that the only way to keep the country growing is to accept some level of immigration. The question then becomes, how many, from where, and what skill sets do we want from our immigrant population?

I have argued here, and it is still true, that Latinos, particularly those crossing from Mexico are, on the whole, law-abiding, hard-working, and religous (90% Catholic) people, who I think ultimately will be a net plus for the country, but...

The numbers must be carefully controlled. Why?

1. We need controlled and orderly immigration.  Let's debate the numbers, but let's stick to them when we agree.  Let's agree that assimilation into our American culture, learning the language, learning the nation's history, and understanding our unique position in the world, are critical to American citizenship.
2. We need to ensure that we're not letting so many immigrants into the country that they don't negatively impact American's job chances and choices.  I am not one who believes that Mexican immigrants only take jobs that Americans won't do.  It hasn't been THAT long ago that the home construction industry was dominated by Americans.  Those are generally good paying jobs that lead to greater skills and capabilities.  They are the kinds of jobs that high school graduates, both black and white, would excel at, and should be looking for.
3. We need to carefully consider the skills we need.  If Obamacare sticks around, we are seriously going to need more doctors, especially general practitioners.  Guess what, these aren't coming from Mexico.  Since we seem to be in decline in the number of American-trained doctors, the next best source is going to remain India and eastern nations.  My answer, we need to increase immigration of those specific skill sets - no matter where they are from.
4. We need to ensure that we are not allowing immigrants into the country who are net drains on our economy.  This is going to require tough choices and it's going to require saying "no" to a lot of immigrants.  It's going to require changes in policies that favor family unification, and perhaps even to changes in our treatment of children of immigrants.  What the country could withstand when it was a thriving free-market economy, is much different from what can be sustained during the march to socialism and the generous distribution of government benefits.
5. We need American blacks to wake up and realize the largest group under attack from illegal immigration are them.  With black unemployment at the 25-30% level, this community seriously must reconsider their devotion to liberal immigration policies.  Because black leaders so long ago sold their souls to Dems, this most conservative of groups needs to re-evaluate their position on this issue.
6. We need blue collar workers, including unionized ones, to stand up for American workers in those industries that most employ illegals - construction, landscaping, food service, agriculture.  Unions seem to accept the fact that these low-skill industries aren't worth their efforts and they have ceded that turf, in the interest of increased power from what they believe will be a reliable voting block.  Why?  Stupidity, I guess.
7. We must address the national security implications of a porous border.  And, let's not lie and act like the Canadian border is as porous as the Southern one.  It is not.  The drug trade primarly comes from the south, and, since that's an industry ripe with lifelong criminals skilled in human and drug smuggling, they are the ones who terrorists will call upon to assist them in getting through the border. 

So, the state of Arizona, in light of the refusal of the Federal government to act, has decided to take enforcement of our immigration laws seriously, and attempt to assist the Feds.  The people of Arizona, and nationally, largely support this.  It's not about race, it's not about hatred.  It's about reality.