Arizona lawmaker defends immigration law in Senate
Apr 24, 2012
Arizona lawmaker defends immigration law in Senate
By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY Updated 9m ago
The constitutionality of Arizona's law cracking down on illegal immigrants will be considered in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning. But first came the politics.
Arizona's immigration law sparked many protests.
CAPTIONBy Ross D. Franklin, APDemocratic Sen. Charles Schumer held a Senate hearing this morning to challenge the legality and rationale behind Arizona's SB 1070. Much of the hearing was spent questioning the author of the law, Russell Pearce, the former Arizona state Senate president who was recalled in a November election.
STORY: Supreme Court considers Ariz. law
Former U.S. senator Dennis DeConcini from Arizona said he was embarrassed by the law, saying that it leads to the racial profiling of legal and illegal Hispanic immigrants. DeConcini, a Democrat, said the law's authors were simply playing politics by passing it.
"Who is the target of 1070? If anyone tells you it is only the drug- and gun-trafficking criminals, they are mistaken. SB 1070 targets those with brown skin. And in my state, those are my neighbors, my friends," DeConcini said. "Whenever you mix politics and law enforcement, you create a toxic environment, and that is what's happened."
Pearce found himself surrounded by three panelists who all opposed the law, and only two senators on the committee - Sens. Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats and members of their party's leadership team.
Pearce said the law was necessary for Arizonans to defend themselves against an onslaught of sometimes-violent illegal immigrants rushing through the state - the result of a border with Mexico left unsecured by Congress. He pointed out that state and national polls have consistently showed that most people support Arizona's efforts - a Quinnipiac University poll conducted last week found that 68% of Americans approved of SB 1070.
And Pearce wondered why Schumer called him to Congress to answer questions over Arizona officers assisting in immigration enforcement when nobody in Congress gets upset when local police help enforce other federal laws.
"We don't hear this about drug laws, we don't hear this about gun laws, about bank robberies," Pearce said. "We're attacked for simply enforcing the law and protecting American citizens."
SB 1070 was passed in April 2010 by a Republican-controlled Arizona legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. The law was considered the toughest anti-illegal immigration law in the country to date, and served as a blueprint for similar laws passed by five states in 2011.
Portions of the law, including the requirement that all police officers check the immigration status of suspects during routine traffic stops if a "reasonable suspicion" exists they are in the country illegally, were blocked by a federal judge and will be ruled on by the Supreme Court.
Schumer announced during the hearing that if the Supreme Court upholds Arizona's law, he will file a bill further clarifying that immigration is a federal responsibility and restricting states from pursuing their own immigration schemes.
Arizona lawmaker defends immigration law in Senate
