U.S. Government Relationships

1000 Word Report

What is a conflict that has been around since the beginning of these United States of America? It is the conflicts over the respective roles of the national and state governments. We fought a war between ourselves over this very issue. The Civil War was fought over the questions of states’ rights. Can a state create a law that allows for slavery? Does a state have the right to secede from the Union? This conflict still rages on in everyday life. A couple areas of debate that have made news in recent years are the issues of illegal immigration and the questions revolving marriage. People today disagree on how much power the federal government should have, and some would even like the states to have more power.

The issue of illegal immigration is one of much debate in the debate over power. Is protecting America’s border with Mexico mainly a federal or a state issue?  It seems to be more of a federal issue. It does pertain to the state governments as well but not as much as at the federal level of government. The federal government is the one that regulates the laws of the people that enter the United States of America. Therefore, it is the federal governments issue more so than it is the state government’s issue. What laws, state or federal, have been broken when a person enters the United States of America illegally? They’ve broken the law just entering the United States of America illegally. Some illegal aliens even break more laws after they’re across the border. Some have murdered United States citizens. Others retrieve falsified documents to hide among the general population and receive the benefits of a United States citizen. Even as they break the law, majority of them are not pursued. They are protected by laws once they make it across the border. Some illegal aliens have even found loopholes within our own constitution to stay in the United States of America legally. What should a state do if the current federal methods aren't working? Some states are cracking down and enforcing their own laws. California and Arizona began Operation W*****k and coordinated 1,075 Border Patrol agents along with state and local agencies, and by the end of July they had caught 50,000 illegal aliens. As many as 488,000 illegal aliens fled the country in fear of being captured. Does a state governor have the authority to enforce federal laws against illegal immigration? Many of the Border States have been enforcing many of the federal laws against illegal immigration. Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico are just a few doing so. Can a state use its laws against trespassing as a means to arrest illegal aliens? A police chief in New Hampshire believes so. New Ipswich Police Chief W. Garrett Chamberlain arrested an illegal alien on criminal trespassing after the federal immigration officials objected, not considering him a priority. Illegal immigration is just one issue being debated upon. Another topic is that of marriage.

The debate of marriage is a controversial one. Some people believe that marriage is only allowed between a male and female. While others believe it should be between two people who want to be bound together legally as well as emotionally. Marriages are licensed by each individual state.  What does this mean when a couple deemed married in one state moves to another state in which they would not be allowed to marry? Would they still be a married couple? In November of 2003 Massachusetts’ law was changed, allowing for same-sex marriages. What if a same-sex couple were married in Massachusetts, then moved to Texas, does Texas have to recognize the marriage as valid? California allows same-sex couples to get married, but only residents of California would be able to get a divorce. So if a same-sex couple got married in California, then moved back to a state that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages they wouldn’t be able to get a divorce if something happened between the same-sex couple. Several states have approved amendments to their state constitutions that define marriage exclusively as “one man-one woman.” Some conservatives want to add a similar amendment to the United States of America Constitution. What would happen to same-sex couples if such an amendment is approved?  Some people believe that such an amendment would never be passed. They believe that too many states would not ratify the amendment.

The conflict of power between the United States of America’s national and state governments has been raging on since the United States of America began. We have fought a war between ourselves over this very conflict. The Civil War was fought over whether states had the right to create laws to allow slavery, and whether or not a state has the right to secede from the United States of America.  The conflict still rages on in everyday life. A couple of the issues up for debate most recently are the controversy surrounding the topic of marriage, and illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is in debate on which level of government, national or state, should take more action against illegal aliens entering the United States of America illegally. The national government takes little to no action on the illegal aliens within the borders of the United States of America. Whereas, some states of the union are actively pursuing the illegal aliens within their own borders. California and Arizona began Operation W*****k to some success. Between the two states 50,000 illegal aliens were captured. Some people have even gone so far as arresting illegal aliens for criminally trespassing, as a police chief in New Hampshire did. On the issue of marriage, many people believe that the states control the laws of marriage. If the national government were to try and pass an amendment to ban same-sex marriages, many people believe that it wouldn’t be passed. Some of the states may not ratify it and would pressure other states to do the same. The conflict over the respective roles of the national and state levels of government still continues.