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opinion B A C K PA G E BY EZRA LEVANT There is no word for chutzpah in Spanish immigration, he replied, "What's to talk about? It's illegal." That's the approach taken in Mexico, W a country that suspends basic human rights for immigrants. We normally think of Mexico as a source of immigrants, but it has its own migrants from poorer Latin American countries. And it deals with them brutally. Until 2008, being an ille- gal immigrant in Mexico meant up to a 10-year prison term; now it just means a fine that few can pay. And anyone caught harbouring an illegal immigrant faces up to 12 years in jail. And those are the lucky ones. According to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, in one recent six- month period, nearly 9,800 immigrants to Mexico were kidnapped and held for ransom — with Mexican police partici- pating in 91 of those kidnappings. To be clear: the cops were doing the kid- napping. A separate survey showed that Mexican authorities were responsible for 15 per cent of attacks on migrants. Section 67 of Mexico's General Law of Population demands that any govern- ment official and even every lawyer must engage in profiling. These officials must demand to see papers from anyone who is an immigrant; if they are not in order, the official must call the police. This makes illegal immigrants in Mexico sit- ting ducks for the country's burgeoning crime gangs, since migrants cannot seek help or protection from authorities. But even if the poor souls were to survive the anti-immigrant pogroms and manage to legally immigrate to Mexico, they are still subject to bizarre and inva- sive limits on their lives. The Mexican constitution itself forbids foreigners from owning property near the coast or the hen the late singer-turned-con- gressman Sonny Bono was asked for his opinion about illegal But it's actually more limited than border. Every aspect of an immigrant's life, from the job he takes to the city he lives in, remains regulated by the state. Yet Felipe Calderon, the Mexican hon- cho who presides over this xenophobic law, saw fit to denounce Arizona's new immigration law during a recent visit to the United States. Calderon is lucky there is no word for chutzpah in Spanish. Arizona's law has been widely denounced by the liberal media and poli- ticians, including U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner even told reporters he brought up the Arizona law "early and often" in a U.S.-China dialogue on human rights, as proof of "a troubling trend" in American soci- ety "and an indication that we have to deal with issues of discrimination" in America. Perhaps Posner felt impolite bringing up trifles such as Tiananmen Square, organ harvesting of prisoners, mass forced abortions, etc., without first confessing America's own brutal sins. But what exactly is in the Arizona law? Incredibly, Holder, Napolitano, and Posner all admitted they had not read the law. The law is pretty simple: it empow- ers Arizona police to enforce U.S. federal immigration laws. That's it: since the feds aren't enforcing the law, the state will. 54 JULY 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com that. The Arizona law doesn't create a parallel immigration police force, or per- mit proactive searches for illegals. Only when an Arizona cop has detained or arrested someone "in the enforcement of any other law" can the matter of immi- gration be raised, and only upon "reason- able suspicion." That suspicion specifi- cally cannot be based on the "race, color or national origin." Merely furnishing a driver's licence, according to the law, is acceptable proof of citizenship. And what are the penalties that the Arizona law metes out? Are they as bru- tal as those in Mexico? There is only one remedy under the law: Arizona police must transfer the illegals to federal cus- tody. That's it: they have to hand them over to the Barack Obama administra- tion, which has actually mused about refusing to take them. The bulk of the law is against human trafficking — the smugglers who profit off the misery of illegal immigrants. So it's the opposite of the Mexican model of making migrants easy prey for corrupt cops. The law even has exemptions for ambulances and child protective services. Immigration is an issue the political and media elites refuse to talk about, both in North America and Europe. The elite political class thinks that all immigration is good, and that more is better — regard- less of the unemployment rate or cultural compatibility. It's partly political correct- ness, and partly political strategy: ethnic politics has always been attractive. Most mere citizens don't agree, which is why, despite uniform denunciation, Arizona's law is wildly popular, and likely to be copied in other states too. Ezra Levant is a Calgary lawyer and author. He can be reached at ezra@ ezralevant.com. SCOTT PAGE