IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL? What Every State and Citizen Must Understand about Arizona's New Border/Illegal Immigration Law

The following is a reply to a question I was recently asked of, "What do you say to Libertarians who say Arizona's new Border/Illegal Immigration bill (SB 1070) is unconstitutional?".

Here is my answer:

Not only is it very constitutional, Arizona and the other states can and should be suing the Federal Government for non-performance and breach of contract.

There are several supportive clauses in the Constitution that allow Arizona to enact this legislation (and sue):

Article IV, Sec. 4 specifically guarantees the States a Republican form of government--not a Democratic, or Socialistic, etc. , but a Republican one, meaning representational. The states are promised to be heard.

Secondly, the same Article and Section also provides protection to all the states from invasion as well. The Federal Government is specifically bound by the Constitution to provide that protection.

Thirdly, NO WHERE in the Constitution does it prohibit or forbid the respective States themselves from protecting themselves from invasion. In fact, one could argue that because the Constitution expressly states in the 10th Amendment that everything and anything not expressly forbidden the States is a right belonging to them. That also means that those responsibilities laid to the Federal Government are not necessarily prohibited to the states from also doing at their option.

In fact, the rumor that the Fed is going to sue Arizona for enacting this law would be a ridiculous endeavor that would fail on the grounds above and only serve to move forward more rapidly, a suit by the states to counter, as a response.

Fourthly, in support of all the above, Article I, Section 8, clause xv, specifically states that the Federal Government call forth the militia (refer also to the 2nd Amendment also for greater understanding of how this works), to protect the states from insurrections and invasions. The states have a right to protection under the Constitution.

The largest problem is the total ignorance and failure of the US Citizens to know and understand their own constitution. If the people knew it their leaders, coming from among them, could not and would not get away with either ignoring the Federal responsibilities for the sake of doing things it is not supposed to be doing (and interfering in), but instead be focused upon doing those few things it was specifically designed to do.

There are only two remedies that I see:

One is the wholesale education of the US Citizenry in order to secure our domestic tranquility and promote our general welfare, (as stated in the preamble of the Constitution, as the motive and premise for forming a new union in the first place). The illegal immigration problem Arizona and every state is attempting or should be attempting to solve is the precise concern of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers and when he declared the three fold mission of the New Union (as stated above and including providing a national defense).

The other is prayer.