-- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists, The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772
America's Party 2012 presidential nominee Tom Hoefling responded today to the Supreme Court decision concerning Arizona's SB 1070.
Tom Hoefling:
"I applaud the Court for recognizing that the State of Arizona has a right to expect its law enforcement officers to enforce the law. But I believe the Court erred greatly in its assertion that the other provisions of SB 1070 are unconstitutional, since those provisions simply mirror duly-passed laws enacted by Congress, in exercise of its exclusive Article One, Section 8 power to 'establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.'
The platform of America's Party, whose standard I bear in 2012, says:
'The right of self-preservation and self-protection is inherent in all persons, communities and societies...Liberty cannot be protected if the people have been stripped of the physical means of doing so.'
It also says:
'We completely oppose any action that surrenders the moral, political or economic sovereignty of the United States and its people, and demand the immediate restoration of that sovereignty wherever it has been eroded.
We demand the immediate securing and continuous vigilant maintenance of our sovereign territory and borders. We oppose any private or governmental action that rewards illegal entry into the United States in any way, and demand speedy and full enforcement of our laws concerning all such activities.'
I was one of the primary authors of those apt words, and I stand by them.
The United States Constitution guarantees each and every State in the Union protection from invasion.
Article Four, Section IV
'The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.'
The phrase 'the United States' is inclusive of the entire national government, in all of its branches, including the Supreme Court and the Congress. And in this most important regard the Chief Executive, the Commander-in-Chief, bears an especial responsibility. That is why, if elected as president, I will faithfully execute the laws of the United States, protect its people and sovereignty, and act forcefully to secure the States from all external or internal threats.
One of my first acts, if elected and sworn into office, will be to issue a presidential finding that the largely open southern border with Mexico constitutes a clear and present danger to the security of the United States. I will then exercise every power and resource available to the Commander-in-Chief to bring about a speedy end to that threat.
I stand with Samuel Adams and the Committees of Correspondence in their historic American assertion of the first law of nature.
I stand with the People of the United States in their God-given, unalienable, intrinsic, right to protect themselves from all external or internal threats to their safety, security, sovereignty, and liberty.
I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the governors and legislatures of the several States in their rightful expectation that the explicit terms of the Constitution be fulfilled, and that they be protected from invasion by tens of millions of foreign nationals.
I stand with the Constitution and the rule of law, and the sacred oath and solemn duty of every officer of government in this country, in every branch, and at every level, to support and defend them."