Immigration Query Is Awkward For Napolitano

A possible Supreme Court challenge to an Arizona law may prove awkward for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

When Napolitano was governor of Arizona in 2007, she signed a law which tried to force employers to verify the immigration status of potential employees. Now, the Supreme Court is asking the Justice Department to provide its opinion on the law.

This puts the Obama administration between a rock and a hard place. Immigration is an explosive issue that inflames the right (Oh, hello Lou Dobbs! Didn't see you come in.) and spurs reactionary politics on the left (just try to get around Los Angeles if there's immigration legislation being debated). Add to that powder keg a fuse of racism and be prepared to duck and cover.

For the Obama administration, the law places them uncomfortably between business groups and immigration reformists who generally support the President, and one of its own secretaries. Furthermore, Napolitano's department is in charge of enforcing federal immigration laws, and this case could put a spotlight on any immigration actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security.

Glenn Hamer of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Politico, “It is awkward, given the fact that she signed the law." Hamer's organization is one of the ones asking the Supreme Court to rule on the issue. “It’s got to be a difficult situation for the administration.”

There are some who are hoping that, removed from the more immigration-sensitive climate of Arizona, Napolitano might just support a challenge to the law she signed:

“You can legitimately say Napolitano is wearing a different hat now. She has to take a step back and look at how these efforts have metastasized across the country,” said Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council.

“I think the secretary has seen the coin from both sides,” said Ali Noorani of the National Immigration Forum. “It is the responsibility of DHS to make sure they are the only ones enforcing the immigration laws. ... I think the secretary has to find a way to rectify the situation.”

Hamer noted that Napolitano signed the state law reluctantly amid widespread voter anger about a surge in illegal immigration. “It was a powder keg,” he said. “I received death threats. There was a lot of e-mail with capital letters. ... I don’t think anyone would write a profile in courage on how she handled that issue.”

It's not just that the recent attention on immigration comes attached to Napolitano that's a problem for the White House. There's also been another recent push by Republicans to use immigration to rally support for their positions. The first example is a letter from 23 House Republicans to the White House:

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement work site enforcement actions save and create jobs for Americans and legal workers if the illegal immigrant workers are detained and deported,” Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas and 22 other Republican members wrote Wednesday in a letter to Obama supplied to POLITICO.