Pearce urges special session on immigration
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From Staff Reports

October 20, 2009 - 2:05PM

State Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said Tuesday that he will urge Gov. Jan Brewer to call a special session of the Arizona Legislature to deal with illegal immigration issues in the state.

Pearce, in a statement released Tuesday afternoon, said he will hold a press conference Wednesday seeking the session so that lawmakers can respond to "recent attempts by the federal government to erode Arizona's progress in combating this problem," according to the press release.

"If our leaders want to address the growing disdain, they must first restore trust with the American people," Pearce said in the statement. "If you say you are going to secure our borders, then secure them, if you say you are going to enforce the law, then enforce it. If you take an oath of office, then keep it."

Pearce said he expects to be joined by "more than 200 police officers and other supporters" at the Wednesday press conference, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the state Capitol in Phoenix.

Among those he expects to attend are Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio; Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas; former congressman and current talk radio host J.D. Hayworth; Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association; and numerous local, state and federal law enforcement officials.

Pearce said specifics of proposed legislation will be unveiled Wednesday.

Last week, Arpaio said he would continue to conduct his controversial crime-suppression sweeps, which target illegal immigrants, despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's decision not to renew an agreement with the sheriff granting his officers authority to make such arrests. The agency did renew the sheriff's role in checking for illegals as part of its jail management duties.

Arpaio has insisted that he can still do the roundups based on a state law that makes human smuggling illegal. He also has claimed another federal law, dealing with hiring illegal workers, can be interpreted as giving him the authority to continue.

His office conducted another sweep last weekend in the West Valley, which netted 66 arrests, of which 30 were suspected illegal immigrants. Of those, 19 were turned over to federal authorities because there were not state criminal charges on which to hold them, the sheriff's office said.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/146035