A GOVERNOR'S NIMBY-ISM?

I've put in calls to Gov. Janet Napolitano's office looking for an answer; how does the governor feel about a permanent checkpoint on I-19? And why hasn't anybody asked her? Still haven't heard a response but the governor should have one ready; in the end it'll be the state of Arizona that decides whether the U.S. Border Patrol builds that I-19 checkpoint.

You see, the permanent checkpoint the Border Patrol wants will abut state trust land; the agency will need the state's permission to set the sucker up. So why hasn't the governor, who's bounced at dizzying speeds on immigration issues, ever made her opinion clear on the matter? On the one hand, she's maintained that the Feds need to take over the border; then she pushed for the National Guard to be deployed. Then her state troopers started receiving training in enforcing immigration laws; now Napolitano is all about workplace enforcement.

Nowhere can I find anything about her stance on a permanent checkpoint in Arizona. But looking at her opinion on checkpoints throughout the rest of the world, she seems to be a believer.

Drawn from her speeches in the past, clearly she believes they work.

This is what she said in a speech at the National Press Club last February, regarding checkpoints in Sonora:

"Under our joint agreement, our police radios used by both states now interconnect; checkpoints in Sonora have now been established; and additional state police are deployed to the border from both Arizona and Sonora," she said.

Napolitano believes checkpoints are a great idea in Iraq as well:

 "I got a sense in Baghdad in particular that with the additional checkpoints ... that they're already seeing a difference on the ground, which is important," she told the Arizona Daily Star in a phone interview from Kuwait.

When the National Guard was being pulled back, Napolitano noted that the troops were a big help in securing the border; the Tucson Weekly's Jim Nintzel noted that she lauded their work, specifically in assisting the Border Patrol build fences and man checkpoints.

Still, when it comes to a permanent checkpoint on I-19, the governor is being surprisingly quiet. Unless of course, checkpoints are fine in places like Sonora and Iraq but not Southern Arizona.

Stay tuned; I'll be covering the meeting in Sahuarita this afternoon and posting as soon as I get back to base.