With the signing of the bill, immigration has now taken a spot in the front row of our national debate. That is a good thing. Since it is just six months from Election Day, we’ll see if Congress will want to tackle it before then as the political battle lines have been drawn. Both parties have a lot to win or lose in the immigration debate.

Our judicial system may have a say about the Arizona law way before Congress gets around to it.

The Arizona law does not go into effect until 90 days after the close of the legislative session which probably means it will be July or August before we see how the law is enforced. If there’s any chance that racial profiling is used to administer the law, it will probably go down in flames, and it should.

Back in May 2007, I wrote my thoughts about Immigration Reform:

First, we must seal the borders to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining access to our country.
Second, we must find a way to deal with those illegals that are here.
Third, we must develop a system where companies that employ these workers can easily identify who is legal through some sort of identification card (tamper resistant) and be held highly accountable if they hire illegals.
Fourth, there must be no amnesty for those in this country illegally.

The Federal Government has failed miserably to address any of these four points.

My opinion has changed some in regards to immigration reform. Realistically, I don’t think there’s any possible way for the Federal Government to force the illegal immigrants who are currently here to leave. There are just too many – some reports show the number close to 12 million. That is the sticking point to the whole issue of immigration reform.

The people who came here illegally mostly did so for a better life and you can’t fault them for trying to make a better life for their families. Congress must find a way for these people (except for those who have criminal records) to have a path to citizenship – but they must be placed behind those in line who are going through the process legally.

Since nobody much trusts the Federal Government, it will be a monumental task in getting these 12 million people to voluntarily come forward if they feel there is even a slight chance they will be rounded up and deported like a bunch of wild animals. The Federal Government must sell this idea as a path to legal citizenship – and freedom.

But before all of that, we must stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country which is a mammoth task of its own. In my opinion it will take the military and a lot of funding to accomplish. Sadly, we don’t really have the resources to combat this problem.

So congratulations to Arizona for raising this issue and bringing it to the forefront. At least they did that. Whether or not Arizona’s law stands up in court is another matter altogether.