Thursday, May 13, 2010

Where Is the 'No Big Government' Crowd on Rogers and 'Show Your Papers' Law?

If you fear big government, as so many people claim to do when the issue is health care reform, this should be a no-brainer. There should be a big rally down at the Brighton millpond any day now protesting the fact that Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton, wants to let big government stop people and demand that they prove they are citizens.

Somehow, I don't think the big rally protesting big government intrustion is going to happen.

Rogers has jumped on the Michigan far-right's proposal to enact an Arizona-type law that allows police to stop anyone they suspect of being in this country illegally and demand that they prove they have a right to be here. This law has been grossly misrepresented as only requiring immigrants to carry documentation, but if an officer stops you because you "look" illegal, you will need to prove, somehow, that you are a citizen and not an immigrant. And nobody has defined what grounds amount to a reasonable suspicion that someone is here illegally.

I don't typically carry my passport or my birth certificate. Am I now going to be expected to do so, in the event a police officer decides I look illegal?

This law is so extreme that Republicans like Jeb Bush, former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and even Karl Rove, have disavowed it, but not Bill Rogers.

No comments: