Napolitano Is Playing With Fire

And if she keeps it up, she risks losing the support of the Latino community in southern Arizona who were largely responsible for her election.

Unwilling to wait for federal help, a House panel voted unanimously Monday to use state tax money to deploy the National Guard along Arizona's southern border.

The proposal would put $10 million into the budget for Gov. Janet Napolitano to mobilize at least some of the state's 4,000 Guard troops.

The bipartisan move comes a month after the governor offered to have Guard troops along the border — but only if the Department of Defense picks up the cost. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has yet to respond to her request.

The panel also agreed to let state and local police stop, question and arrest illegal entrants. Another is designed to make life more difficult for those not in this country legally, with provisions ranging from making it illegal for landlords to rent to them to disqualifying them from workers' compensation benefits if they are injured on the job.

Still another provides $50 million to secure the border, including $20 million to the state Department of Public Safety.

And committee members also agreed, without dissent, to penalize companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

That measure also allows legal residents who are fired ahead of someone not here legally to go to court to get rehired with back pay. And state agencies would have to conduct routine audits of companies that hold state licenses to ensure they are hiring only U.S. citizens and lawful residents.

Next week, the same committee will review bills to deny other services to people here illegally, including subsidized child care, adult education and resident tuition at state universities and community colleges.

The Governor joins the ranks of J.D. Hayworth, Jon Kyl and the Minutemen by supporting the militarization of our borders. I can't figure out if she's trying to pander to the far-right as she seeks reelection or if she truly believes this is the route to take. Either way, a whole chunk of her base is being slighted.

Congressman Raul Grijalva pulls no punches and sums it up nicely

Grijalva said Napolitano's new immigration policy is an insult to Mexican-Americans and that "Anglo-Saxon men make the strategy for her," according to an article in Bajo El Sol, the Spanish language weekly sister publication of The Sun in Yuma.

In response to The Sun's questions about his criticism, Grijalva said: "I'm not saying the governor's policy is racist or jaded. All I'm saying is that it is not inclusive, and it should have included more people." [snip]

Yuma County Republican Vice Chairman David Lara said the congressman's "Anglo-Saxon" reference was racist and that Grijalva should apologize.

Grijalva said his remark wasn't racist, nor was he being critical of Napolitano. He said he was disappointed in Napolitano's immigration policy and that her enforcement-only approach to the problem "took the wind out of the sail of comprehensive reform."

Grijalva said he supports enforcement of immigration laws but not an "enforcement-only approach."

"You've got to have more than that," Grijalva said.

You're a Democrat, Governor; start acting like one when you discuss border policy.