| :East Valley Tribune; |
:Sep 27, 2005; |
:East Valley Opinion; |
:34 |
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Demands and demagoguery
Napolitano’s disaster funding requests are nothing but specious political sleight-of-hand
- J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., represents the 5th Congressional District.
In a ghoulishly cynical political scheme, Gov. Janet Napolitano announced that after declaring a state of emergency last month in Arizona’s four border counties, she would now be asking FEMA for federal disaster relief to help pay for more law enforcement along the border. That’s right; with parts of New Orleans still under water and Hurricane Rita barreling down on Texas, our governor thought it would be a good time to do a little looting of her own — only at FEMA instead of Wal-Mart.
FEMA officials have made it clear the governor’s request does not meet “the intent of the law.” But more to the point, if Napolitano really believes her own emergency declaration, why hasn’t she called out the National Guard to deal with it? How many times has a governor declared a state of emergency on a security matter without calling out the Guard?
In an example of why they will remain on the back benches at the state Legislature, Democrats Linda Aguirre and Phil Lopes assert (Opinion 2, Monday) that calling out the Guard would violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from enforcing domestic laws. Just one problem — the National Guard is not subject to the Posse Comitatus Act unless federalized, which is why governors routinely use the Guard to prevent looting or restore order. If Napolitano refuses to call out the Guard, it isn’t because she can’t.
By now, FEMA is used to dealing with phony emergency funding requests from Napolitano. In 2003, she asked FEMA for emergency funds to eradicate a bark beetle infestation. Her request did not comply with federal emergency guidelines and was rejected, as I warned it would be. Afterward, her spokesman “acknowledged . . . that the federal regulations really do not qualify Arizona for the (FEMA) cash.”
In another political stunt, Napolitano sent invoices totaling $195.6 million to the Justice Department for the costs of incarcerating illegal immigrants — invoices Napolitano knows will never be paid.
There is a perverted logic to Napolitano’s political theatrics. She requests federal emergency funding to which the state is not entitled and that she does not expect to receive, and when the state is denied, she blames the Bush administration. Just who is playing politics?
I take a back seat to no one in my criticism of the federal government and its failure to secure our borders. But Napolitano’s criticism has a Clintonian ring of disingenuousness to it. As governor, she has vetoed legislation that would: require proof of citizenship to register to vote; expand the range of benefits denied to illegal aliens under Proposition 200; authorize police to investigate, arrest, detain, or deport illegal aliens; prohibit illegal immigrants from attending college or being classified as in-state residents for tuition purposes; declare English the official state language; and ban state and local governments from accepting “matrÌcula consular” cards issued by the government of Mexico and other foreign forms of identification.
Furthermore, Napolitano once promised to sign legislation to grant drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
Most telling is that when seven Mexican senators came to Arizona earlier this year to investigate and write a report on the effects of Proposition 200, they did not request a meeting with the governor. Why? Because they “judged it pertinent not to ask for an appointment with her, because her political position should be handled with care.” They went on to call Napolitano “a true ally in the fight in favor of our migrants.”
Arizona is on the frontline of the illegal invasion of our country and from the Mexican point of view Napolitano is an ally in their cause.
As far as the governor is concerned, the only state-of-emergency involves her political fortunes. Napolitano’s request is nothing but political grandstanding from a soft-on-illegal immigration liberal Democrat out to change the voters’ perception of her on an issue on which she is politically vulnerable.
So don’t be alarmed if you’re watching television in the coming weeks and spot someone snatching food from Gulf Coast Hurricane victims. It’s only our governor addressing the problem of illegal immigration.
