Arizona judge hearing immigration law case

An immigration reform activist is encouraged that the federal judge hearing challenges to Arizona's immigration law has raised the realities of what's happening in the state because of out-of-control illegal immigration there.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has not indicated whether she will put the law on hold before it takes effect later this week, but asAssociated Press notes, she did go beyond "dry legal analysis" at court hearings on Thursday to point out some of the everyday realities of illegal immigration and how they apply to the new law.

The judge noted that the federal government erected signs in a wilderness area south of Phoenix that warn visitors about illegal aliens and drug smugglers passing through public lands. She also regarded the stash houses where smugglers hide illegals before bringing them into the country's interior as a fixture on the news in Arizona. (See earlier article)

"It would seem just from the questions that she is asking that unfortunately for the advocates for the illegal aliens in the Obama administration, they got stuck with a judge who actually lives in Arizona," observes Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

"She is aware of what is going on in Arizona," he continues. "She lives with it every single day, just as everybody else in Arizona is living with it. And that is precisely why the vast majority of people in Arizona support this law because they do recognize that it's having an impact on their lives, on their security, on their tax dollars, [and] on everything that's important to them." Mehlman concludes that it is "impossible to ignore the realities that exist."

While the FAIR spokesman is encouraged by the judge's comments, he is hesitant to predict how she will ultimately rule.