It was the spring of 2010 when a media firestorm is ignited over the passage of a new law in the Grand Canyon State. The controversy? Simple enforcement of the federal law wherein the federal government has proven derelict: securing the border against illegal immigration.
In her new book "Scorpions for Breakfast," Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona explains the issue of illegal immigration in a manner unlike any found in the mainstream media. More than mere talking points, she opens the reader's eyes to terrible reality of crime and fear threatening to overtake citizens who live on the border.
The book begins with the gut wrenching death of Robert Krenz, murdered in March 2010. A prominent rancher, he sought to assist a seemingly imperiled illegal, only to be shot and killed for his kindness. As she recites the statistics, history, and figures you'd expect in a policy book, Brewer continually applies a human touch to the issue with the eulogy of actual victims. Her narrative dismisses the popular conception of illegal aliens as mere "victims" who wish for a better life, and exposes the grim reality of a border exposed to organized cutthroats. A border that is kept open at the sole discretion of the federal government.
The anecdotes are shocking-kidnapping, extortion, forced drug smuggling, murder and rape. Such has become the reality for Arizona. Having exposed the crisis as unseen by any media outlet, the governor transitions into a personal account. The account of an official specifically elected to deal with the situation.
With pleas to Washington falling on deaf ears, Brewer bears the mantle leadership herself; detailing the passage of a policy specifically targeted at the alien criminals who ravage Arizona. Only to be sued for the effort by a hostile administration and denied by court edict.
If one ever wondered what the "big deal" is about border security, "Scorpions For Breakfast" is an ideal primer. Through it, the invasion is made clear.