Dear Arizona: Here's the illegal immigrant truth

First, let me say that, for various reasons, I want the border properly enforced. But, I don't want that enforcement based on lies and racism.

Unfortunately, as Steve Chapman documents in great back-to-back columns, that's what's happening.

First, the law, and SCOTUS rulings, allow cops to take the initiative in making random contacts with people on the street. Well, that would count as a "lawful contact" in the Arizona law, Chapman notes. See the potential for police abuse?

In an earlier column, then, Chapman debunks the myth of the "criminal illegal alien," among other things. He notes the low crime rate in El Paso, for example, or notes illegals are less likely to commit crimes than Native Americans. (Of course, some of that is a different matter entirely.