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Back to National Security - Illegal Immigration United We Must Stand In the end, the federal government is the gatekeeper of the path to citizenship. The federal immigration laws are part of the supreme law of the land to which the local and state governments owe total allegiance. It is true that federal power should in many instances yield to the wisdom of the local government, and indeed the 10th Amendment to the U S Constitution says so; however, immigration is clearly not a matter that was left to the states to decide. Yet, state and local governments pass laws and issue law enforcement directives aimed at undermining or disregarding federal immigration laws. That is rebellion. When your state representatives and officers intentionally provide safe havens or zones of sanctuary for illegal aliens, when the states seek to make it easier for illegal aliens to operate "legally", they act in rebellion against the federal government. Federal officers and officials, members of the US House and Senate, who encourage, aid, and abet the rebellion of the state and local authorities against the enforcement of the federal immigration laws are themselves complicit in rebellion. 150 years ago, Maryland was led by rebellious leaders who thwarted and defied the United States government, and President Lincoln did not hesitate to have those members of the Maryland legislature arrested and imprisoned in Fort McHenry. Today, we stand as a Nation divided between those who recognize and seek to uphold the supreme law of the United States and those who mock, defy and disparage the immigration laws. United we must stand. The states do not have the right to rebel against the enforcement of the federal immigration laws, and those elected officials that stand in rebellion must be called to account. This Nation cannot stand united so long as the rulers of states like Maryland disregard their first duty to obey, defend, and uphold the law of the United States of America. History teaches well that a divided nation is a weak nation. A nation that is divided on something as fundamental as enforcement of federal immigration laws will be vulnerable to attack from enemies domestic (like the Oklahoma City federal court bomber, Timothy McVeigh) and foreign (like the Islamic jihadists that struck on September 11). Illegal immigration is a matter of National Security and must be treated as such.
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© 2010 Jim Rutledge for U.S. Senate |
