Does Anyone Have the Right to Violate U.S. Immigration Law?
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
