Sen Mike Braun (R-IN), after one term as a Senator, is running for Governor. In a 12/9/23 email, he says he would: 1) “DEPORT criminal illegals,” 2) “HOLD China accountable for killing our people,” & 3) “DESTROY the drug cartels.” [FN1] These are not State issues. 1/8

1) The Constitution invalidates state laws that conflict/contrary to federal law. [FN2] Regulation of immigration and of aliens non-citizens is intimately a responsibility of the feds. [FN3] States’ permissible authority is limited. [FN4] Only feds can deport. [FN5] 2/8

2) COVID-19 may have come into existence in China, but “how”still is disputed. [FN6] There is no credible evidence that China released it intentionally. The Constitution puts a hitch in Braun’s git-a-long on this. States can neither agree w/nor declare war on other countries. [FN7] 3/8

3) We can destroy the drug cartels. We legalize all drugs. Cartels lose huge source of revenue, as the legalization of marijuana has shown. [FN8] We can cut cartels’ access to firearms as the U.S. is the source for 70% of their guns. [FN9] Two reasons Braun can’t take these actions: 4/8

1) Acts necessary are outside job description of Indiana’s Governor. 2) The testicles factor: to blame “criminal illegals,” the Chinese and Mexicans appeals to Braun’s racist base. Last year he suggested a ban on interracial marriage was wrong. It takes testicles to tell racists to shove it. 5/8

Footnotes: FN1. Caps are in the original, but the three policies are taken out of the order as they appear in the email & numbered here for clarity. FN2. The Supremacy Clause. Art. VI, Cl.2. FN3. Hines v Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52 (1941). FN4. 8 U.S.C. § 1101, et seq. 6/8

Footnotes: FN5. Arizona v United States, 567 U.S. 387, 396 (2012). FN6. That Braun bases this “point” on the pandemic is a guess, but that appears to be the right wing’s most fashionable beef w/China. FN7. U.S. Const. Art. II, Sec. 10, Cl 3. 7/8

Footnotes: FN8. Gilger, “Marijuana legalization forces cartels to pivot,” Fronteras, 12/07/22. FN9. Trovall, “How a booming gun business in the U.S. arms Mexico’s cartels,” Marketplace, 10/19/23. FN10. Loving v Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967). 8/8