Reason Writers Around Town: Shikha Dalmia on Arizona's Un-American Anti-Immigration Law
Conservatives accused liberals of Europeanizing America through ObamaCare. But now many conservatives are doing the same by supporting Arizona's harsh new anti-immigration law, notes Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia in her latest Forbes column. As she writes:
If universal health coverage was part of the longstanding liberal agenda to implement a European-style welfare state in America, Arizona's tough new anti-immigrant law represents the conservative agenda to install a European-style surveillance state. Indeed, the very same conservatives who could not find words strong enough to condemn the Europeanization of America under ObamaCare are now greeting the Arizona law—which will require residents to prove their lawful status to authorities on demand—with a cheerful smile and a shrug.
The two efforts together will nix any notion of American exceptionalism—the idea that America has a special relationship with Lady Liberty that no other country enjoys. Therefore some things that are permissible in other countries are simply not kosher here.