According to a NYT story, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is angry that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is postponing debate on the energy bill, to make way for immigration reform debate. That apparently angered Senator Graham, causing him to indefinitely - or more likely temporarily - remove his support and stop working on a comprehensive energy bill, to the chagrin of his working colleagues Senator John Kerry and Senator Joseph Lieberman.
So what made him angry? Senator Graham felt that, with the extreme polarity of immigration reform, bringing that up before a comprehensive energy bill would have made it impossible to get an energy bill passed this year. I think he's right; immigration reform is a very hot topic, and can hurt or help several Representatives and Senators coming up for re-election this year. Of course, the energy bill is polarizing as well, but because President Obama has given the green light on nuclear and offshore oil drilling, it was expected to be balanced with the other goal of cap and trade (don't get me started about Sarah Palin's flip flop on that issue).
But Senator Graham should understand, that Arizona has pushed immigration reform to the forefront, not the Obama Administration. Unfortunately for all parties involved, this issue is coming to a head with Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer signing into legislation a bill that allows police officers to require proof of citizenship if they suspect the person to be a non-citizen. Now, I'm not smart enough to know the difference between a legal and illegal alien and a US resident that was naturalized but speaks only Spanish, but apparently down South, they have special powers beyond racial profiling. Within 90 days, the bill will become law, and I guarantee we will have our very first victim who will have standing for a US Supreme Court trial. The SCOTUS will have lots of reasons to overturn this, including the 4th Amendment, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, and Section 8 of Article 1. It's a pick and choose your favorite reason that the Arizona law will be thrown out, but that before it can reach the SCOTUS, it must first gain standing in court, which means it needs a US Citizen to be apprehended, searched and fined for not carrying proof of citizenship. Of course, the opposite action will occur as well: Illegal immigrants will be clamoring for fake IDs.
So unfortunately for the US and for Senator Graham, Arizona has chosen to make immigration reform the most important issue of the Spring/Summer.
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