Here Come the Suns Dumb Dumb Da Dumb

As readers are likely aware, the NBA’s Phoenix Suns wore ‘Los Suns’ jerseys for Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals. First off, let me just say that if they were to be grammatically accurate, the jerseys should have read ‘Los Soles.’

More importantly, the premise that the the Arizona immigration law is unjust, and that thus the Suns should wear these jerseys to stand in solidarity with Hispanics against it is a flawed one.

As Byron York has been adeptly arguing in recent days, the Arizona law is a carefully crafted one. According to Mr. York it is only

the criticism of the law that is over the top, not the law itself.

The law requires police to check with federal authorities on a person’s immigration status, if officers have stopped that person for some legitimate reason and come to suspect that he or she might be in the U.S. illegally. The heart of the law is this provision: “For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency…where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person…”

Critics have focused on the term “reasonable suspicion” to suggest that the law would give police the power to pick anyone out of a crowd for any reason and force them to prove they are in the U.S. legally. Some foresee mass civil rights violations targeting Hispanics.

What fewer people have noticed is the phrase “lawful contact,” which defines what must be going on before police even think about checking immigration status. “That means the officer is already engaged in some detention of an individual because he’s violated some other law,” says Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri Kansas City Law School professor who helped draft the measure. “The most likely context where this law would come into play is a traffic stop.”

As far as “reasonable suspicion” is concerned, there is a great deal of case law dealing with the idea, but in immigration matters, it means a combination of circumstances that, taken together, cause the officer to suspect lawbreaking. It’s not race — Arizona’s new law specifically says race and ethnicity cannot be the sole factors in determining a reasonable suspicion.

Mr. Kobach quickly dispels these and other misconceptions about the law in a recent New York Times Editorial. His arguments are as follows:

On the notion that it is unfair to demand that aliens carry their documents with them:

…since 1940, it has been a federal crime for aliens to fail to keep such registration documents with them. The Arizona law simply adds a state penalty to what was already a federal crime.

On the charge of racial profiling:

Actually, Section 2 provides that a law enforcement official “may not solely consider race, color or national origin” in making any stops or determining immigration status. In addition, all normal Fourth Amendment protections against profiling will continue to apply. In fact, the Arizona law actually reduces the likelihood of race-based harassment by compelling police officers to contact the federal government as soon as is practicable when they suspect a person is an illegal alien, as opposed to letting them make arrests on their own assessment.

On the issue that states should not get involved with immigration:

…the Supreme Court since 1976 has recognized that states may enact laws to discourage illegal immigration without being pre-empted by federal law. As long as Congress hasn’t expressly forbidden the state law in question, the statute doesn’t conflict with federal law and Congress has not displaced all state laws from the field, it is permitted.

So when Suns owner Robert Sarver says (and I take him at is word and assume he is not just trying to curry favor with his Hispanic fan base, perhaps naively) that “However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question…and Arizona’s already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them,” one has to wonder if he understands the law.

First, what equal rights and protections under the law exactly are being violated? Second, are we to grant equal rights and protections under the law that serves lawful citizens to those who by virtue of being in the United States illegally are anathema to the law? Third, has Robert Sarver considered the seen and unseen effects of removing illegal immigrants from Arizona? Guess what, the great thing about markets is that they are flexible – people will fill the jobs left open by illegal immigrants at the right price and legally, and Arizona’s prisons will be less full, law enforcement less burdened, properties and persons less threatened and people able to spend less time and money worrying about security, and more on the business of Arizona.

And when Steve Nash says, “I think the law is very misguided. I think it’s, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it’s very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us,” does he consider the detriment to Arizonan society of the violence and economic destruction created by some of its illegal immigrants? Does he consider all of the immigrants waiting their turn to lawfully enter our country who are left in the dark and cut in line given our current federal policy and practice?

When Suns executive and former player Steve Kerr says, “…what we’re focusing on is we want to celebrate the diversity that exists in our state and the diversity that exists in the NBA, make sure that people understand that we know what’s going on and we don’t agree with the law itself,” one wonders how deluded he must be. How does wearing a ‘Los Suns’ jersey in protest of a just law that protects American citizens show that you understand what’s going on, and on what basis do you disagree with such a law? Perhaps if Mr. Kerr were to speak with Arizonans living on the border he might feel differently.

Regarding the multiculturalism and diversity that Kerr and Nash speak to, if they believe a basketball game the right arena for promoting these ideals, is it proper to do so in support of those breaking our laws? Why must there always be a race or ethnicity delineation? Are sports about diversity for the sake of diversity, or winning with a roster which may incidentally consist of people of different backgrounds? Aren’t we a post-racial society? Why not just celebrate athletic excellence, the amazing acts of the most important minority of the individual and Americanism at sporting events.

Frankly, the bottom line is that people in the “mainstream” are resorting to straw man, ad hominem attacks against those who support this law, vilifying them largely on the basis of the color of their skin, not the content of their character. After all, what white middle-aged Tea Partier isn’t a racist. The folks attacking this law are not looking at its substance because it does not fit their narrative, and because it would require rational thought as opposed to emotional reaction. And so while normally it would not be necessary to pay heed to the remarks and actions of NBA players and executives on political issues, because they made such a public misguided statement in the face of deeply concerned Americans, I believe they deserve a reasoned response.

To be sure, there are illegal immigrants who contribute positively to society, and US citizens who do not, and Americans should want the best and brightest from abroad to come to our country. But the interests of American citizens must come first, and our citizens should not have to cower; they should boldly assert that this is so.

We can have a debate on immigration – about what kind of people we want coming into our country, about the welfare state itself that leads to the economic burden on and of our native and immigrant population and about our drug laws which make trafficking lucrative and create crime, but it is a travesty that so many are attacking this immigration law without realizing its equity and efficacy in helping protect the life, liberty and property of Arizonans and more broadly, Americans.