Arizona Immigration Law Overtakes Oklahoma's As Nation's Toughest
04/26/10 4:51 pm | reporter: Yvonne Harris



Tulsa - Oklahoma is no longer the state that is the toughest on illegal immigration.

Arizona has now gone a step further. The Grand Canyon State's new law requires police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.

Before that, Oklahoma's law had set the standard when it came to cracking down on illegals. Now, the immigration issue is helping the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office balance the books and bring down crime. 8 Talkback:
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Right now, there are 179 inmates in the Tulsa County Jail who are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over the past year, that has translated to more than six million dollars for the sheriff's operational budget.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz makes another connection -- he says that partnership has also helped cut down on crime.

Over the last year, Sheriff Glanz says there has been a 13-percent overall reduction in major crimes. He attributes that in part to what's called the 287g, Immigration Enforcement partnership with the feds. Hundreds of illegal immigrants have been arrested and housed in his jail.

"When you tell me you're foreign born, I'm going to ask why you're here in this country," Glanz says. "And if you don't have documentation to be here legally, then we're going to file a detainer on you and turn you over to the ICE people eventually you end up before a federal judge."

That agreement with the feds has meant millions for the Tulsa County Jail. But some wonder if it has also led to racial profiling.

"If they find a law enforcement agency that does racial profiling, it cancels the agreement office," Glanz says. "So all the agencies involved don't practice that and don't believe in it."

But leaders in the Hispanic community who have held protests in the past, disagree.

"The fear that the community has of racial profiling and it's nothing new we haven't seen it before," says Marvin Lizama with the Tulsa Dream Coalition.

Up until last week, Oklahoma's 1804 was known as the strongest immigration bill in the country. Now with Arizona's new law there's even more fear by some here.

"Once that fear sets, in victims of domestic violence will be afraid to call the sheriffs department or Tulsa police because they're afraid the first question will be show me your documents," Lizama says.

The Tulsa Dream Coalition is planning a news conference at a later date to discuss further the impact of immigration laws.

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