President Barack Obama recently went on the offensive against Georgia and other states that have begun taking action to deal with the epidemic of illegal immigration.
The president claimed his administration has gotten tough against illegal immigration in myriad ways. But in fact, the president again and again has supported so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" - which is just code language for amnesty for potentially millions of illegal aliens.
"It is a mistake for states to try to do this piecemeal. We can't have 50 different immigration laws around the country," he said in an Atlanta TV interview.
But why are the states taking those measures in the first place? It's because the federal government has failed in its duty to deal firmly with illegal immigration. States are saddled with huge costs for educating and providing other social services to those who are in the United States unlawfully. States just can't afford to keep footing those bills, especially in a time of economic crisis when state governments' coffers are nearly empty. And the American people most assuredly do not want amnesty for illegals.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal rightly intends to sign into law a recently passed bill to let police in Georgia check into the immigration status of some suspects. That's important because it's estimated that Georgia has well over 400,000 illegal aliens.
If the president does not want states to take the fight against illegal aliens into their own hands, he should stand against any sort of amnesty for illegals at the federal level. Until that happens, the states need not apologize for trying to deal with that costly problem as best they can.