Thread: Arizona Illegal Alien Bill has been signed - UPDATED

State Sovereignty takes a giant leap forward!! Take that Federal traitors!!

Arizona governor signs immigration law

by Alia Beard Rau -
Apr. 23, 2010 01:47 PM
The Arizona Republic .

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer today signed into law an immigration bill that gives the state toughest law in the nation, making it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requiring local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Brewer said she signed the bill in response to "the crisis the federal government has refused to fix.''

The new immigration law will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card, or other proof of citizenship such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.

It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, thus impeding traffic, would also be committing a criminal act.

Pro-bill protesters at Capitol cheered loudly when Brewer made her announcement, one yelling out "God Bless Jan Brewer.''

Meanwhile, the anti-bill protesters began shouting in unison, "Shame on You! Shame on You!"

After the chanting started, pro-bill forces began to sing " America the Beautiful."

Brewer also issued an executive order Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training board to develop training that will help police agencies appropriately implement the legislation, including what does or does not constitute reasonable suspicion that somebody is an illegal immigrant. Brewer vowed to protect individual civil rights, saying, "I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in Arizona.''

She said she believes the law itself will protect those rights, directing police not to consider solely race or color in deciding whether to stop someone suspected of being in the country illegally.

"People across America are watching Arizona," Brewer said, noting that critics nationally are "waiting for us to fail.''

However, she insisted the law will be consistent with federal immigration laws and she called concerned "alarmist.''

The law goes into effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, which is expected to be sometime in early May.


History

Arizona has about 460,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Currently, immigration offenses are violations of federal law, something most local law-enforcement agencies cannot enforce.

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, has been working with groups across the state and nation for years to craft legislation that would toughen enforcement of illegal immigration in the state. The new law is the result of those efforts, and something he calls the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act."

"It's a simple bill," Pearce has said. "It simply puts into place enforcement provisions that are really already provided under federal law."

The measure passed the House 35-21, with all the Republicans supporting it and all the Democrats present opposing it. Four Democrats were absent. It then passed the Senate 17-11 with all Republicans except Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale, supporting it and all the Democrats present opposing it. Two Democrats were absent.

The legislative approval capped months of impassioned debate, fueled by outrage over the murder of Douglas-area rancher Robert Krentz, who was shot along well-known smuggling routes near the border.

Brewer's action came after advocates lobbied supporters and opponents held rallies and protests that have grown daily.

Petition signatures were collected and prayer vigils held, and Brewer's office was bombarded with phone calls and e-mails. Earlier this week, police arrested nine college students after they chained themselves to the Old Capitol building's doors in protest. Since then, protests have grown in size, with hundreds showing up at the Capitol on Friday to protest both for and against the immigration bill.


Immigration efforts

The law is the latest in a string of legislation intended to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona by making life tougher for them through a policy known as enforcement through attrition.

Those measures include a requirement that public-service workers report illegal immigrants to federal authorities; the 2008 employer-sanctions law; and requirements that voters must show proof of citizenship at the polls. Several of those came about with the help of Brewer.

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said that when Brewer was Arizona's secretary of state, she advocated for Proposition 200, the provision that requires proof of identification to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote. Brewer pushed for the measure in 2004 and then "vigorously fought legal battles to successfully defend its provisions," he said.

The lawsuits were resolved in favor of her position in 2008.

In 2009, Brewer worked with the Arizona Department of Economic Security to ensure that state spending on social-welfare programs went only to those who were eligible under the law, Senseman said.


Supporters

The law has received vocal support from Republican politicians, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, now a candidate for state attorney general, and Sen. John McCain and his opponent J.D. Hayworth. GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Owen "Buz" Mills, State Treasurer Dean Martin and former Board of Regents President John Munger also said they favor the law.

State legislators in support of the measure said they did what they had to in the face of the federal government doing nothing.

"The U.S. Constitution says the federal government shall protect states from foreign invasion," Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, said. "The federal government has not done that. People are being attacked. . . . Arizona needs to act."


Opponents

Immigrant advocates have been appalled by the bill's provisions.

"It's the most anti-immigrant legislation the U.S. has seen in a generation," said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles.

The Mexican Embassy issued a statement against the bill, citing concerns about its impact on the "civil rights of Mexican nationals."

Local clergy and religious organizations have added their voices to the stream of protests that the bill will result in discrimination and hurt the economy.

State lawmakers who voted against the bill worried about how the measure will affect the nation's perception of Arizona.

"Is this really going to be a state that people are going to want to come to whether to visit on a temporary basis or as a business wanting to relocate here?" Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, D-Phoenix, asked. "Our state will be going completely backward."


Law enforcement

Law enforcement has been split over the bill, with many rank-and-file officer groups supporting it and the police

chiefs association opposing it.

Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which represents Phoenix police officers, said his group supports the law because it would give local authorities the ability to better enforce the law.

"To hinder or restrict local law enforcement from partnering with their federal counterparts in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or Border Patrol increases the risk of danger not only for the community but also for officers," he said.

The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police opposes the law but said its members will enforce its provisions "to the best of their abilities."

The group's opposition stems from concerns that the law will require officers to focus on illegal immigration above other crimes and that no funding has been provided to train officers on how to properly enforce the new law.


What's next?

The question now is how local law enforcement will follow the law, and how Arizona residents - both legal and illegal - will react.

Phoenix Vice Mayor Michael Nowakowski earlier in the week sent a letter to City Manager David Cavazos, suggesting that if the bill becomes law, police should request citizenship proof from everyone they stop in order to avoid charges of racial profiling.

The bill states that an Arizona driver's license is sufficient to prove citizenship. Nowakowski argued that licenses from other states, however, may not be sufficient because some states do not require proof of citizenship to get a license, as Arizona does.

"That means that anyone who drives in the city of Phoenix and gets pulled over better have a passport or a visa," he said.

There have also been concerns from police chiefs across the nation that their states may follow in Arizona's footsteps.

Police Chief Richard Myers, of Colorado Springs, Colo., predicted the Arizona law would be the start of a trend.

"Right now, Arizona is ground zero . . . but my state is a connecting state to Arizona," he said. "It won't take long for this to become a hot-button issue in Colorado."


Lawsuits

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and other groups have predicted the law will unleash a torrent of lawsuits. The ACLU said earlier this week that it was still considering whether it would wait for a case of racial profiling on which to base a lawsuit or whether it would file a suit challenging the constitutionality of the law itself and ask the courts to prevent it from going into effect.

Muzaffar Chishti,a lawyer who tracks state and local immigration laws at the Migration Policy Institute's office at New York University Law School, said the Arizona law might be unconstitutional because, with a few exceptions, immigration enforcement is the sole responsibility of the federal government.

"I don't see how it could pass constitutional muster," Chishti said. "Immigration enforcement is seen exclusively as being in the federal domain except in certain conditions."

Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor, disagreed.

"There are some things that states can do and some things that states can't do, but this law threads the needle perfectly," said Kobach, who worked with Arizona lawmakers to craft the law.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... assed.html

USA TODAY HAS THIS AT THE TOP OF THEIR HOME PAGE ALREADY

Apr 23, 2010

Gov. Brewer signs controversial immigration bill

04:36 PM
By Matt York, AP

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer today signed a controversial immigration bill into state law, advancing a politically charged debate that is already having reverberations in Washington.

"Respect for the rule of law means respect for every law," said Brewer, a Republican. "People across America are watching Arizona.

"We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer added. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."

Brewer's decision came just hours after President Obama called the proposal "misguided." At a naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens today, Obama pressed Congress to revamp federal immigration policy or face the possibility of "irresponsibility by others."

The law, which will take effect in 90 days, will make it a state crime to be in the country illegally. The measure would require migrants to produce papers verifying their status when asked to do so by a police officer, according to a story in the The Arizona Republic.

Debate over the Arizona policy comes as immigration is once again moving to the fore in Washington. Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress may take up immigration after it finishes a pending financial regulation bill. "If the Senate is ready with an immigration bill, we don't want anybody holding it up for any reason," she said.

Back in Arizona, Brewer is facing a tough election year, including a contested primary and what the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated a "toss-up" general election. State Treasurer Dean Martin, who is running against Brewer in the GOP primary, called on her to sign the bill.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, the Republican state lawmaker who sponsored the legislation, said critics of the bill are "against law enforcement, our citizens and the rule of law," according to the Associated Press.

But civil rights and Hispanic groups have condemned the measure, arguing it could lead to profiling. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said today he will travel to Phoenix to take part in protests planned this weekend.

"Now the national spotlight is focused squarely on Arizona," Gutierrez said in a statement. "People from all over the country are making their way to Phoenix to stand up with and stand up for immigrants and Latinos in the state."
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http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... ion-bill/1

Ariz. governor signs immigration enforcement bill S.D.U.T.

Check out the great border fence pictures at this link

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... l/?success

"Now the national spotlight is focused squarely on Arizona," Gutierrez said in a statement. "People from all over the country are making their way to Phoenix to stand up with and stand up for immigrants and Latinos in the state."





Is this moron actually going to rally civil unrest?

Is this not TREASON?

More than 200 comments on the USA TODAY site already.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... ion-bill/1

HALLELUJAH! This is the best news I have had all week! I hope other states follow Arizona by getting tough on illegal immigration.

It didn't take long to get the illegal aliens protesting in the streets.

Tucson protest headed to Armory Park

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1046838.html

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

It didn't take long to get the illegal aliens protesting in the streets.

Tucson protest headed to Armory Park

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1046838.html

Civil unrest promoted by the open border lobby.

Pray for the safety of their officers because we know how violent these animals get.

Of course Obama is upset with this bill, Now his immigration status can be legally checked.