The theme—if the federal government won’t do its job, then the state will—is one that has played out repeatedly during Barack Obama’s troubled tenure in the Oval Office. It played out most famously when Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a strict anti-illegal immigration measure into law in April of 2010.
Now a reprise of that theme is being sounded in California, where State Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, a Democrat, has proposed an initiative that will permit the nearly 1 million illegal immigrants in the state to live and work openly with little or no fear of deportation.
The measure, called the California Opportunity and Prosperity Act, is being presented as a referendum. On Friday, the proposal was filed with the state Attorney General's Office. The bill’s sponsors will need to collect 504,760 voter signatures in order for the proposition to make the ballot.
The Arizona Daily Star quotes Fuentes as calling the measure a "moderate, common-sense approach" necessitated by the federal government's inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
In a written statement, Fuentes articulated his message more bluntly:
I hope this shows Washington, D.C., that if they fail to act, California will take the lead on this critical issue.
Apart from the implication by a member of the president's own party that the he is an ineffectual leader, the proposal, should it become law, would put the White House in an awkward position. If the administration were to challenge the constitutionality of such a law, as it was quick to do with the Arizona law, it would risk alienating Hispanic voters. If it were to do nothing, it would appear hyperpartisan and guilty of failing to apply the law even-handedly.
Obama has repeatedly told audiences on the campaign trail in recent weeks, “Nobody said this would be easy.” He was referring to fixing the broken economy, but his words might apply equally to to the job of president.
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