Supporters of SB-1070 tell KGUN 9 their ultimate goal with Arizona's tough immigration bill
Posted: Apr 30, 2010 7:45 PM CDT
Updated: Apr 30, 2010 7:45 PM CDT
Reporter: April Madison

Tucson, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - HB-2162 makes changes to SB-1070, that address complaints solely on race, color, or national origin. But, do supporters believe these revisions will do just that?

I spoke with Republican State Representative Vic Williams, and Governor Brewer's Spokesperson, Paul Senseman. One of the questions I asked was if they believe these changes will eliminate the possibly of racial profiling. They both told me they believe the original version of SB-1070 already protected against racial profiling, but that the changes will now strengthen that language.

Both Williams and Senseman told me SB-1070 does not target Mexicans or Hispanics. They said the bill is geared towards all people who are in this country illegally regardless of race, color or ethnicity.

So I asked them how they can say that, in light of the fact that our border is with Mexico, and the vast majority of those crossing it are Mexican nationals and/or Hispanics. Senseman responded, "that would be no different than suggesting that border security somehow targets Mexican or Hispanic individuals. We're not targeting of any kind of race whatsoever. What we're talking about is targeting behavior."

Representative Vic Williams echoed Senseman's response, "I believe that we have a not of liberal people that want to see this law go down because they're afraid of the effects, and it's going to actually help secure our border. It is NOT based on race, it's based on illegal activities of people that our coming to this country without permission. We encourage legal immigration."

So then I asked... what is the ultimate goal of this bill... is it just to get rid of all illegal immigrants?

Williams told me, "The bill is about protecting our neighborhoods, protecting our communities, from the effects of illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human smuggling that's currently going on our southern border."

He also added, "SB-1070, and the trailer bill that helps advance SB-1070, only mirrors our Federal Immigration laws at I-N-S, and our border patrol would adhere to. Unfortunately our Federal Government is not putting the resources to protect our borders and cut-off the employment magnet that's attracting this problem to southern Arizona."

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12408253