BREWER COMMENTS ONLY MAKE IMMIGRATION SITUATION WORSE

The immigration debate in Arizona, already heated, somehow keeps
getting more inflamed.

Gov. Jan Brewer's remarks on Friday that most illegal immigrants
entering Arizona are transporting drugs across the border are
irresponsible and do nothing but fuel the bigotry that some people
feel toward Hispanics.

Brewer insists there's "strong information" to support her claim, but
has yet to produce any data to back that up.

"Unless Gov. Brewer can provide hard data to substantiate her claim
that most undocumented people crossing into Arizona are 'drug mules,'
she must retract such an outrageous statement," Oscar Martinez, a
University of Arizona history professor whose teaching and research
focuses on border issues, told the Associated Press. "If she has no
data and is just mouthing off for political reasons, as I believe she
is doing, then she must apologize to the people of Arizona for lying
to them so blatantly."

A study in 2007 by the University of Arizona Udall Center for Studies
in Public Policy found that "most immigrants who come to the United
States illegally - especially those from less-developed nations - do
so because U.S. employers hire them at wages substantially higher than
they could earn in their native countries."

But Brewer claims the majority of those people end up getting ensnared
by drug cartels and used to transport drugs.

There are certainly some cases of that happening, but to suggest a
majority of illegal immigrants fit that profile seems farfetched.

Brewer's ill-advised comments won't sway public opinion in favor of
Arizona's new immigration law. Most people are already in favor of the
new legislation.

In an election year, her remarks simply come across as pandering to
the state's strong right-wing voter contingent that is clamoring for
something to be done about illegal immigration.

The ink is not yet dry on the new immigration law, but Sen. Russell
Pearce -- the author of that bill -- is also doing his best to escalate
the debate.

He has renewed his attempts to deny U.S. citizenship to children born
in this country to undocumented parents -- a clear violation of the
14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the
U.S.

As cities across the country (and now the entire state of California)
continue efforts to boycott Arizona in protest of the new law, the
actions of Brewer and Pearce only exacerbate the situation and add to
the economic difficulties the state is facing.

Brewer and Pearce are right about one thing: Something must be done
about illegal immigration.

But instead of fanning the flames and further tarnishing Arizona's
image, let's focus on the problem at hand.