Illegal Immigration Politics

As my family and I unpacked our bags Sunday night after returning to Washington from our trip to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, I flipped on my laptop for the first time in 10 days and saw something that didn't surprise me in a screaming headline on the Drudge Report.

"DEM GOVS WARN: OBAMA SUIT VS. AZ IS 'TOXIC'" said Drudge about a New York Times story for Monday morning which you can read at http://is.gd/douya
 
That really shouldn't surprise anyone.  While I don't want to live by the polls, survey after survey of Americans has been showing the same thing - Americans support the Arizona law by a wide margin.
 
So, if the Obama Administration is going to challenge this in court, then it could have a political impact in this mid-term election year.
 
And it puts the President against a majority of Americans on a very hot button issue.
 
Just think about it.  What if?
 
What if this legal battle goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before the November elections?  What if?
 
What if we had a 5-4 decision, led by the Chief Justice, that would uphold the Arizona law?  Or at a minimum prevent an injunction against it going into effect?
 
What if other state legislatures try to approve a similar law this year?  (What's the over/under on similar bills being introduced in state legislatures in 2011 - 50?)
 
Obviously, this issue divides the country like a lot of different issues.
 
Those for immigration reform tend to be in the major cities that also house big conclaves of Democrats, like Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
 
Meanwhile, many outside of those blue big city centers are skeptical about immigration reform and all for what they see as a "common sense" approach of enforcing laws that are on the books.
 
This will be a fun political fight to watch, and one that could well sway some votes this November.

As my family and I unpacked our bags Sunday night after returning to Washington from our trip to Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, I flipped on my laptop for the first time in 10 days and saw something that didn't surprise me in a screaming headline on the Drudge Report. ...