Thread: Immigration bill approved by Arizona Senate

Immigration bill approved by Ariz. Senate

Jan. 20, 2010 11:34 AM
Associated Press .

An Arizona Senate panel has approved a sweeping bill to strengthen immigration enforcement.

The measure passed the Republican-controlled Public Safety and Human Services Committee Wednesday on a 4-3 party-line vote.

It would ban police departments from adopting policies that prevent officers from asking people about their immigration status.

The bill also would make it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally or to transport or conceal an illegal immigrant. And it seeks to curb day-labor employment by making it illegal for an illegal immigrant to solicit work in a public place or for anyone to hire someone from a vehicle.

Mesa Republican Russell Pearce is sponsoring the measure. A similar bill passed the Senate last year but failed in an overnight vote in the House.

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

This is great. When Sheriff Joe stated cracking down and E-verify was passed a couple of years ago, a number of people I know and I noticed that there were not as many people on the roads and they were not driving crazy. In my neighborhood I noticed that there were not helicopters flying over my house 3 or 4 times a week and I didn't have as many dumped cats in my back yard.

Personally, I think it's great. The day we had the "Day Without a Mexican" protest they put on and didn't go out shopping was the first day I felt like I was living in the United States again. There was such a sweet mix of people. Usually, it's like shopping in Tijuana.

So, now that I am leaving this hell hole they are finally enforcing the laws.

Hopefully, you will be moving somewhere that has escaped illegals and their anchor babies. The way this place is going, I should have paid more attention in high school Spanish classes.

Originally Posted by vortex

Hopefully, you will be moving somewhere that has escaped illegals and their anchor babies.


The way this place is going, I should have paid more attention in high school Spanish classes.

LOL.....it probably wouldn't have done you much good V. There used to be formal and informal and you knew what they were talking about.

This "new" spanish is something entirely different....almost like some weird hybrid of dialects they've developed so they can understand one another.

It takes awhile but eventually you can figure it out but I've got to tell you...even my husband's family, where their second language is spanish, don't know what in the hell they're saying at times and these are people who have been bilingual all of their lives.

What a wonderful bill. However, I'm afraid it's too much to hope that it will pass the House this year either. I so admire Russell Pearce (a former law enforcement officer who was wounded by an illegal alien in the line of duty) - he just hangs right in there introducing and re-introducing legislation on this issue regardless of how the political winds are blowing either locally or nationally.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4853--0-0.html

This would be Change I could believe in! The only immigration reforms we need.

Originally Posted by jean

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4853--0-0.html

Thank You.

That's how I know when I'm picking the right articles to post on ALIPAC.

Most of the articles that never make it to the home page probably didn't need to be posted here.

Bill gives police immigration clout
Comments 28 | Recommend 3
January 20, 2010 10:23 PM
BY HOWARD FISCHER


PHOENIX — A Senate panel has approved a far-reaching bill designed to combat illegal immigration, including allowing police to stop and actually arrest anyone they just reasonably believe is in this country illegally.

Other provisions of the measure approved Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services include:

• Paving the way for law enforcement to conduct "sting'' operations to find companies knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

• Making it a crime to stop a vehicle on the street to pick up someone to do a "day labor'' job.

• Requiring police to make a "reasonable attempt'' to determine the immigration status of anyone they contact officially if there is "reasonable suspicion'' they are an illegal immigrant.

• Permitting anyone to sue a city, county or any government that has policies which limit immigration enforcement by their employees "to less than the full extent permitted by law.''

Wednesday's 4-3 party-line vote, with Republicans in the majority, sends the SB 1070 to the full Senate.

The move is the latest effort by Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, to force local communities to do more to find, detain — and arrest or deport — those who entered the country illegally.

He specifically is taking aim at what he called "sanctuary policies'' of some cities and police departments that direct police officers not to inquire about the legal status of those they encounter who are not otherwise being investigated for a crime. Pearce said that is why his legislation specifically allows anyone who finds governments are not living up to their obligations to sue.

That raised concerns by Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction, that people who are victims or witnesses would be hesitant to report crimes for fear of being arrested.

"That's a valid concern,'' said Mark Spencer, the president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which supports the bill. But Spencer said that presumes police officers would use "racial profiling'' to try to determine whether victims and witnesses are in this country legally.

Much of the debate centered on what authority — if any — police have to detain those they suspect of being illegal immigrants.

John Thomas, lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, specifically questioned the section about officers being able to arrest suspected illegal immigrants.

"This requires federal immigration training,'' he said, referring to a section of federal laws that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to train local police to enforce federal immigration laws. That training includes being able to properly identify who is and is not in this country legally.

But Pearce said all police officers have "inherent authority'' to enforce federal immigration laws, even without special training. He said the only time special training is required is after someone is arrested to determine their legal status.

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, said what Pearce is proposing is necessary.

"We often lose sight of the fact that our porous border and costs related to illegal aliens are costing the citizens of Arizona in excess of $2 billion a year,'' he said. Melvin said that includes educating illegal immigrants and their children, incarcerating those who commit crimes and the cost of emergency hospital treatment.

"If we could solve this issue — and this legislation takes us in that direction — we could, in many ways, almost eliminate our budget woes, these gut-wrenching billions in budget deficits,'' Melvin said.

The Department of Corrections reports that 6,313 of the nearly 41,000 inmates serving time for felonies are illegal immigrants.

There are no accurate figures for education, as schools are precluded from asking the legal status of either students or their parents. But the Pew Hispanic Center figured last year that about one of seven students in Arizona schools are here because of illegal immigration, whether the youngsters themselves are undocumented or they are born in this country to parents who entered the United States illegally.

Joe Sigg, lobbyist for the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation, said there is no need for the kind of "sting'' operations this measure would facilitate, where police actively see if a company will hire someone who cannot prove legal residency as is already required by both state and federal law. He said if there are employers breaking the law, there will already be plenty of work for officers.

Allison Bell, lobbyist for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said she feared some otherwise innocent companies might want up in trouble.

The provision of concern spells out that companies are not "entrapped'' if they were "predisposed'' to breaking the law and officers simply provided the opportunity to break it.

Bell said the business group wants a definition of what makes a company "predisposed'' to hiring illegal immigrants, suggesting that companies have an absolute defense to charges if they use the federal government's online E-Verify system to check the legal status of new workers.

Jennifer Allen, executive director of the Border Action Network, said one particular problem is a section of the measure making it a crime to transport or harbor illegal immigrants. She said that could make criminals out of the immediate family members of someone here illegally simply for having them in their homes or driving them somewhere in their cars.

Another provision would allow officers to arrest those they suspect are illegal immigrants is another provision making it a criminal violation of state trespass laws to be in the state, whether on public or private land and be in violation of federal immigration laws.

Pearce said, though, he's not necessarily looking to fill Arizona jails with illegal immigrants. He said it gives discretion to law enforcement officers whether to seek prosecution or simply turn offenders over to ICE.


http://www.yumasun.com/news/police-5563 ... clout.html

Arizona law to criminalize undocumented immigrants

Posted 08:19:00 01/24/2010

PHOENIX, Arizona, United States—Arizona could become the first state in the country to criminalize undocumented immigrants.

A bill moving fast through the Arizona Senate would allow local police to arrest and incarcerate someone for “trespassingâ€