Letter: On illegal immigration,

Obama set on ignoring legal efforts to stem the tide

July 12, 2012 Joseph Essinger, Stuart TCPalm

Letter: On illegal immigration, Obama set on ignoring legal efforts to stem the tide.

In 2008, voters overwhelmingly elected Barack Obama to serve as our president. His message was to unite our country and bring hope and change for all Americans. In one of his early speeches, he clearly stated that we are just days from seeing the transformation of this country.

He swore under oath to faithfully uphold the laws and Constitution. Unfortunately, we now know what he meant by transformation.

On July 25, the Supreme Court upheld a provision which permitted police to check the immigration status of a person who was caught committing a crime. It would seem Arizona was supporting a current federal law which, unfortunately, was not being enforced by our federal government.

It didn't take too long before Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the administration would not respond to any request from any Arizona police officer to inquire if a person was here legally. The police will be told to release the person in question.

Since other states will still have this service, it seems this is nothing more than a vindictive order only for the state of Arizona.

I thought we are living in the United States of America, where we have "one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all."

There is nothing in our Constitution that speaks to selective enforcement. This is the type of law found in a banana republic being run by a dictator.