Passage, protests for tough immigrant bill
Measure making it a state crime to be in U.S. illegally is sent to Brewer
by Alia Beard Rau - Apr. 20, 2010 12:00 AM

One of the toughest proposed illegal-immigration measures in the country passed its final hurdle in the Arizona Legislature on Monday, moving on to face national media scrutiny, a growing firestorm of opposition and cautious consideration by the Governor's Office.

Senate Bill 1070 would, among other things, make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and require local police to enforce federal immigration laws. The state Senate approved the bill by a 17-11 vote.


Next, Gov. Jan Brewer has five days to consider whether she will sign the bill. Though she has expressed some reservations, she has remained mostly quiet about her plans.

Advocacy groups and others have only increased their volume.

The measure has captured the attention of national media for weeks. Even the New York Times editorial page has weighed in, urging a veto. Petition signatures are being collected, prayer vigils are being planned and Brewer's office is being bombarded with phone calls and e-mails.

Law-enforcement groups are divided on the issue. But lawmakers and illegal-immigration foes are backing the measure, calling the bill the latest sign the federal government has failed to deal with the issue.


Governor response

Brewer said she will review the legislation over the next several days and will seek the advice of both her staff and outside experts in reviewing the constitutionality and other aspects of the bill, given that illegal immigration is usually the purview of the federal government.

Earlier in the day, Brewer said she had concerns about the bill but wouldn't elaborate.

Brewer was quick to weigh in on Arizona's overall immigration and border issues.

"I think it's very important that we secure our borders," she said. "It's very unfortunate that the federal government hasn't stood up to its responsibilities."


National reaction

Monday's vote prompted a flurry of response from across the nation. Opponents say the bill could increase racial profiling in Arizona.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Immigration, will hold in a news conference today asking Brewer to veto the bill.

Several groups, including the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, also planned a Wednesday news conference in Washington to ask President Barack Obama to intervene.

On Monday, Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, used his blog to blast Arizona's proposed crackdown on illegal immigration, calling it "the country's most retrogressive, mean-spirited and useless anti-immigrant law."

The Washington-based National Federation for American Immigration Reform is supporting the legislation.


Local opinion

Local protesters and advocates on both sides of the issue have spent the past week holding rallies, issuing statements, appearing on national talk shows and bombarding Brewer's office with e-mails and phone calls.

Opponents include Mexico's embassy, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Valley Interfaith Project and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

A dozen religious leaders sent Brewer a letter opposing the bill, and faith groups said they would hold prayer vigils in front of the Capitol today. Sen. John McCain threw his support toward the measure on Monday.

"I think the people of Arizona understandably are frustrated and angry," the Arizona Republican said. "It's also a commentary on the frustration that our state Legislature has that the federal government has not fulfilled its constitutional responsibilities to secure our borders."

Republican J.D. Hayworth, who is running for McCain's Senate seat, has been issuing news releases in support of the state legislation for several weeks.


Potential impact

The bill is the latest aimed at cementing the state's reputation as the leader in tough and controversial immigration-control measures. Arizona has about 460,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
.

Under the proposed law, police would be required to make a reasonable attempt "when practicable" to determine the immigration status of a person if reasonable suspicion existed that the person was in the U.S. illegally.

An individual is presumed to be in the U.S. legally if he or she can provide an officer with an Arizona driver's license or identification card, a tribal identification card or any federal, state or local government-issued identification.

If the suspect doesn't have those documents, he or she would have to produce an "alien registration document," sometimes called a green card, or face state criminal charges and fines.

The bill also aims to stop day-labor solicitations by making it illegal to seek work or pick up somebody for work if doing so slows traffic.

Vincent Picard, a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Phoenix, declined to comment on the Arizona legislation and referred calls to the Department of Homeland Security, which also declined to comment.

Arizona law-enforcement groups are split on the bill, with a union for Phoenix Police Department officers supporting it and a statewide association of police chiefs opposed.

The Arizona Police Association, which represents 18 local law-enforcement associations and about 9,000 rank-and-file officers, supports the measure.

Executive Director Brian Livingston said the bill doesn't force officers to focus on immigration issues but simply permits them to determine an individual's immigration status if they choose to do so. Officers are still required to develop a reasonable suspicion first, he said.

"Police are professionals," he said. "They know when, and in what scenario, a determination of immigration status is necessary." Some groups already have promised a legal challenge.

Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said her group is considering its options, which could include waiting until somebody is "injured" by the enforcement of the law or immediately challenging the legality of the law and trying to get a court to prevent the law from going into effect.


Legislative battle

The House made changes to the bill last week, and it had to go back to the Senate for approval.

The public was not allowed to speak at Monday's Senate hearing, but lawmakers on both sides became heated.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, told the Senate: "Illegal is not a race, it's a crime."

Sen. Richard Miranda, D-Tolleson, voice shaking, said that by passing this law, Arizona is sacrificing its civil rights and encouraging racial profiling. "It's popular that I hear that we're going to take handcuffs off police," Miranda said. "What we're doing with this bill is putting the handcuffs on the community."


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