Last week I reported to you that a federal court in Missouri upheld a law penalizing businesses that hire illegals.  This week…more good news to report from Arizona:

 

“A federal judge on Thursday upheld an Arizona law that prohibits businesses from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and yanks the business licenses of those that do.  U.S. District Judge Neil Wake dismissed a lawsuit filed by business groups that argued that federal immigration law severely restricts Arizona's ability to punish people who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.”

 

Under the law, a business would be placed on probation after one violation and would lose its business license permanently following a second violation.

 

You will recall that Judicial Watch has been extremely active in the state of Arizona, especially in Phoenix, where we have been working very closely with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on behalf of Phoenix businesses to enforce illegal immigration laws.

 

So, what impact is this work having on the illegal immigration population inArizona?  Check this out from The New York Times, reporting from Phoenix: “The signs of flight among Latino immigrants here are multiple: Families moving out of apartment complexes, schools reporting enrollment drops, business owners complaining about fewer clients.…a consensus is developing among economists, business people and immigration groups that the weakening economy coupled with recent curbs on illegal immigration are steering Hispanic immigrants out of the state.”

 

The Times makes note of one illegal alien who is pressing her husband “to return to Mexico because of the difficulty in finding a job and what the family considers a growing anti-immigrant climate.”

 

If this doesn’t prove the wisdom of enforcing our nation’s illegal immigration laws, I don’t know what will.  If we stop rolling out the red carpet for illegals, they will leave on their own.  The problem will become more manageable.  It’s clearly working in Arizona.  And it will work on a national basis if we finally address the problem in a common sense manner – by enforcing the law.

 

Click here to read about Judicial Watch’s nationwide campaign to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.

 

 

Judicial Watch once again sponsored and played an active role at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest gathering of conservative political activists in the country, held last week in Washington, D.C.  (The conference received a ton of news coverage as Senator John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee all delivered remarks.)  As always, Judicial Watch had a presence in the exhibit hall, educating folks about our lawsuits, investigations, and programs designed to fight government corruption.

 

In terms of my personal participation, I was invited to address the topic of “Threats to Our Sovereignty.”  My comments focused on two very different, but equally dangerous, threats:  the Security and Prosperity Partnership and illegal immigration.  Here’s an excerpt from my remarks:

 

"Judicial Watch started to shine a light on SPP in September 2006,  when we began the release of SPP documents that we obtained under the Freedom of Information Act…The documents provide a general outline of the goals and objectives of the SPP.

 

"...Is the SPP simply good government -- with neighboring nations better coordinating the free-flow of goods and people, or is it part of a larger agenda to bring a European union-type internationalist program to the countries of North America?

 

"I’ve looked at the documents and there’s some perfectly appropriate intergovernmental discussions going on.  But there’s also a lot of talk that an advocate of a North American union would love.

 

"Is the SPP a threat to our sovereignty or an opportunity for greater prosperity? 

 

"I’ve looked at the documents.  The documents highlight opportunities to lessen silly trade regulations and other regulatory hurdles to increased prosperity in all three countries.  But there is plenty of talk of “integration” - in the European Union sense of the word.

 

"Whatever the question, a few things stand out in the SPP documents.  The Mexicans want our money and the Canadians want to protect their socialism.  So what may that mean for us?  Quite simply, our tax dollars go to Mexico and our government acts more like our socialist neighbor to the north. 

 

"Given all this SPP background noise, it should come as no surprise that Mexican government agents don’t respect our border and repeatedly violate our sovereignty with impunity.  As a result of Judicial Watch FOIA requests, the government has made public reports detailing 278 confirmed incursions by Mexican government personnel into the United States over the last ten years.  Most of these incursions involved armed military or police personnel and a significant number were related to illegal alien smuggling and drug trafficking... "

 

My entire speech will be made available next week on our websitewww.judicialwatch.org 

 

 

According to The Washington Post:  “With time running out for his administration, President Bush pressed the Senate yesterday to break a political impasse and confirm more than 180 judicial and agency nominees whose appointments in many cases have been stalled for months.”  (Actually, 30 of these nominees have waited for over a year.)

 

"’The confirmation process has turned into a never-ending political game where everyone loses,’ Bush said in the East Room, flanked by nominees whose confirmations have been delayed.”

 

Obviously, I’m with the president on this one, specifically as it relates to judicial nominees.  The Senate’s constitutional obligation is to “advise and consent” on judicial nominations, not to block nominees for political reasons, as liberals in the Senate have done time after time.  According to the Constitution, every single judicial nominee is entitled to an up-or-down vote, period. 

 

As the president notes, Democrats are clearly playing politics with the judicial confirmation process, hoping to run out the clock until there is a new presidential administration in January 2009.  This scheme is irresponsible and unconstitutional.