President Obama has submitted his administration’s legal dispute with Arizona over immigration to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called that move “downright offensive.” Her characterization is correct, albeit somewhat mild.
It is highly offensive that the administration would submit a constitutional argument over federalism and federal preemption to an international body for review – especially when that body includes dictatorial tyrannies such as Cuba and China that violate human rights routinely and with prejudice. It is another sign that President Obama holds our constitutional system of government in low regard and has little interest in upholding American sovereignty.
There is no universal right to violate a country’s immigration laws with impunity. It is no violation of human rights to enforce border security and basic immigration requirements. Indeed, the United States has some of the most open and permissive immigration laws in the world. Many of those criticizing Arizona, including Mexico, have much stricter and harsher immigration laws; their treatment of immigrants may justify human rights claims, but ours certainly do not.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Arizona makes no human rights claims. It is insulting and provocative to include this dubious legal filing in the official “Report of the United States” to the United Nations. But it is certainly no surprise, given the administration’s implementation of a de facto amnesty for the vast majority of illegal aliens in our country, and its reluctance to enforce deportation orders and take other steps needed to get this situation under control.
In the Universal Periodic Review, the administration asserts that “President Obama remains firmly committed to fixing our broken immigration system.” Yet the only “fixes” he seems committed to are not enforcing federal laws he disagrees with; preventing states from enforcing their laws if it brings attention to his administration’s failure to enforce federal law; and extending amnesty to those who have broken our laws and thereby shown utter contempt for the basic principle that guarantees all our rights and freedoms: adherence to the rule of law.
Cross-posted at Politico.
