Crime Rates have remained stable in Arizona over the past decade, despite claims that drug cartels are flooding into the country from across the border.  FBI crime statistics show that violence is actually down in border towns and across Arizona.  The nations illegal immigrant population has nearly doubled over the last decade, but violent crime has dropped in Arizona by 1/3 during that same time.  So why the renewed fear of immigrants and newly perceived violence?

There have been a few instances that Arizona and the media have pointed to in order to say that there is more violence now than there used to be.  There was one murder of a rancher that was suspected to have been killed by an illegal alien, which led many to believe that violence has been escalating.  Politicians like John McCain have been forced to ratchet up the rhetoric against minorities because new anti-immigrant groups like the Tea Party.  McCain recently told the The Arizona Republic that “the violence is on the increase” and the federal government not being able to completely secure the border “has led to violence – the worst I have ever seen.”  In fact, the border is more secure now than ever before.  There are more than 6,000 federal law enforcement agents patrolling the borders in Arizona alone and they are equipped with high tech cameras and sensors to keep an eye on parts of the border that people may not be able to.

A tough new immigration law has been passed in Arizona because of the fear of violence that forces local police officers to stop and detain anyone they believe may be an illegal alien.  This misguided law requires any citizen to be arrested if they do not have proper identification when questioned by police officers, who do not need probable cause or any reason other than racial profiling to stop someone.  American citizens can then be arrested and possibly deported if they do not have their driver’s license on them at the time.

Republicans say that the new Arizona anti-immigrant law may not be perfect, but it’s a response to the federal government not solving the immigration problem.  This seems absurd since the Republicans refuse to debate a national immigration bill.  Harry Reid recently explained that “we have Republican legislators all over the country focused on Arizona particularly, saying we are concerned about this because the federal government is not doing anything,” Reid said. “The two senators from Arizona won’t work with us, it’s illogical to hear the state of Arizona complaining about the federal government not doing anything and the two Republican senators from Arizona won’t join with us to do anything.”  Republicans seem to get elected specifically to stop the federal government from functioning, so they can show that the federal government can not solve problems.