Eight congressmen and congresswomen from the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, will be in Arizona this week as part of a delegation to study immigration and security issues.
The delegation will be traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, naturally, but will also meet on Thursday evening in Phoenix with business leaders, government officials and lawyers at the law firm Polsinelli Shughart, which is hosting the event.
An e-mail by the law firm states that the delegation represents "the full spectrum of Germany's various political parties."
No doubt, then, some will be excited to learn more about Arizona's legally challenged anti-illegal-immigrant law, SB 1070 -- and perhaps how Germany can pass something just like it.
After all, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed recent statements by a political ally, the leader of Germany's Christian Social Union, Horst Seehofer, denouncing widespread immigration by people who represent an "alien" Muslim culture.
Right-wing Arizonans have their Mexicans -- their German counterparts worry about "Turks."
A book by a former top banking official who claimed that immigrants make Germany "dumber" is a bestseller, with people on both sides of the political aisle reportedly in support of its message.
Germany's softer side, meanwhile, deserves criticism because of policies that allows the use of Sharia law and tends to be lax on counter-terrorism. Maybe that's one reason Arizona isn't sending delegations to study how Germany handles immigration and security.
