Gov. Beebe is no bleeding heart — he ordered the state universities to crack down on illegal immigrants getting in-state tuition — but he knows and opposes reckless jingoism. Beebe said last week that he opposed a proposed initiative that seeks to make it harder for aliens to get public benefits.
“All of the major provisions it proposes are already covered by federal or state laws, and this ballot title will create bigger government and cost Arkansas money,” he said. That is the Secure Arkansas initiative in a nutshell.
If the proposal gets on the ballot and is ratified by voters in November, every state, county and city agency and school district would have to verify that people applying for most government benefits or services — that is most of us at some point — were living in the United States lawfully. Everyone would have to take a sworn oath that they were legal residents.
It would put every state and local agency in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws, which is the obligation of the national government.
The sponsors have precious little time to get the required signatures. If they do, the mammoth initiative is apt to be stricken from the ballot because it pretty clearly violates initiative precedents of the Arkansas Supreme Court not to mention the equal-protection clause of the U. S. Constitution.
It will save the taxpayers lots of money if it dies on the vine. The governor’s clear stand promotes that result.
