Last Call

Just over the river in Butler County, north of Cincy, the Wingers are already demanding that Ohio pass Arizona's immigration law.  You know, because we're right on the border.  With Canada.

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and state House Rep. Courtney Combs have sent a letter to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland asking him to pass a law that "mirrors" the one in Arizona, reports WLWT channel 5 in Cincinnati.

“Our federal government has failed us when it comes to securing the border and stopping the flow of thousands of illegals entering this country on a daily basis," WLWT quoted Rep. Jones as saying. "If the federal government won’t do it, it is time that states take that responsibility upon themselves."

Arizona's law allows police to stop and question anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant, even if they don't suspect that person of any other wrongdoing. Critics say the bill will lead to racial profiling, and some commentators have even compared the measure to race-based laws in Nazi Germany.

For Sheriff Jones, the push to allow police greater powers to combat illegal immigration may be partly personal. Last week, his office paid $100,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against Jones by a man who said he was unconstitutionally detained by deputies during a 2007 illegal immigrant raid on a construction site.

Of course Arizona's law is going to spread to other states unless it's stopped by the courts or a national immigration reform law, or both.  If you don't think Republicans in the state where you live are planning their own Arizona-style immigration police state, think again.  You'd better believe that some of them are planning on passing a bill as tough or even tougher, too.

Like it or not, Republicans just made immigration one of the big issues of 2010 and 2012.  Democrats need to get on the ball and do more than talk, it's time to sic the DoJ's Civil Rights division on these slimeballs.