Some were surprised by a Houston Chronicle story that explains Sheila Jackson Lee’s proposal to increase border security and add detention space. Jackson Lee is a very liberal Houston Congresswoman, and in some people’s minds, “liberal” means “head in the sand about immigration.”
Of course it doesn’t. Jackson Lee is pushing back against Texas Governor Rick Perry’s proposal to put more state sheriff’s deputies along the border with a proposal to have the federal government step up their efforts. This is the correct approach: it is cruel to make border states bear the brunt of the costs of immigration policy, which is set entirely at the federal level.
It’s also the approach Bill Richardson and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano are insisting upon with their declaration of states of emergency along their borders, which was mainly prompted by a lack of resources to deal with immigration-related drug crimes and violence. The federal government must step up to the plate, allowing local law enforcement to deal with the daily needs of their communities.
Importantly, Jackson Lee and Richardson have both also spoken out against the “Minutemen” citizen patrols, who think that they themselves are the answer to government abdication of responsibility. Both politicians are afraid the patrols are just vigilante justice with a nice website. Much better that the government fund its own policies.
Bill Richardson is a man who knows that immigration affects all of us (yet another reason to give a Western politician a chance), and that policy reform cuts across party lines. He knows its not a political misstep to say we’re having border problems. I’m glad that the leadership of Richardson and Napolitano has made it more possible for even die-hard partisans like Jackson Lee to speak out on immigration reform and common sense.