Two Tea Parties

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Now that the Tea Party has taken the plunge to support racism in Arizona, the Party will have the obligatory split over policy. I see a division into two distinct Tea Parties: one of them based on black tea and the other based on green tea. The black Tea Party would continue to support racism (black represents the color of their heart). The green Tea Party will favor a more rational, natural approach to immigration.

What is your opinion of these two parties within the Party? Which other policy divisions can we look forward to?

Comments

Re: here's a little... now your turn

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Although Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others have defended it, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris suggested it's at best superfluous in terms of helping local law enforcement combat serious crime and at worst a diversion of resources to enforcing federal immigration law.

"Proponents of this legislation have repeatedly said that the new law provides a tool for local law enforcement, but I don't really believe that that's true or accurate," Harris said at an April 30 news conference. "We have the tools that we need to enforce laws in this state to reduce property crime and to reduce violent crime, to go after criminals that are responsible for human smuggling, to go after criminals that are responsible for those home invasions, kidnappings, robberies, murders."

Judith Gans, who manages the Immigration Policy Program at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, said predictions that crime will drop because of the law are "really overstated." While Mexican drug- and human- smugglers pose an ongoing threat, most illegal immigrants try to avoid causing problems once in the United States, she said.

"There are lots of studies that have confirmed that immigrants, and especially undocumented immigrants, are far less likely to commit crimes than the general population," Gans said.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/16/20100516immigration-law-arizona-claims.html#ixzz0o9LEm0oP

1) Has the crime rate gone up? In what sense?
2) Is illegal immigration the "cause" ?
3) The problem with drugs is separate from immigration. Conflating the two is not going to help us get to the root of the problem.

Re: here's a little... now your turn

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

The people coming over the border illegally bring drugs with them, more often than not (not necessarily willingly). Doing something to reduce incentive for people to come over will help reduce that source. Illegal immigration does not mean that everyone coming over is just looking for work. There are plenty of people who are criminals coming over too. Regardless, the point of the law isn't to reduce crime directly.

Re: here's a little... now your turn

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. After all, the growers of Humboldt County prefer to reduce the competition of foreign supplies. Heavy handed immigration enforcement isn't just a form of labor protection, it also protects domestic narcotics farmers.

Re: here's a little... now your turn

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Except that 100% of illegal immigrants are already breaking the law.

Oops.