Thread: Arizona Law Promises to Be 'Toughest' on Illegal Immigratio

Arizona Law Promises to Be 'Toughest' on Illegal Immigration
Republicans Float Bill to Charge Illegal Immigrants with Trespassing -- in the State

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
March 26, 2010

A bill empowering police to arrest illegal immigrants and charge them with trespassing for simply being in the state of Arizona, is likely just weeks away from becoming the toughest law of its kind anywhere in the country.
The country's toughest sheriff takes rehabilitation to new levels.

Already passed by the state's Senate and currently being reconciled with a similar version in the House, the bill would essentially criminalize the presence of the 460,000 illegal immigrants living in the state.

The measure allows police to detain people on the suspicion that they are illegal immigrants, outlaws citizens from employing day laborers, and makes it illegal for anyone to transport an illegal immigrant, even a family member, anywhere in the state.

The bill's supporters say a local crackdown has become a necessity because the federal government has failed to adequately seal the borders or actively enforce its laws. They blame Arizona's spiraling crime and unemployment rates on its large population of illegal immigrants.


"When you come to America you must have a permission slip, period," said state Sen. Russell Pearce, the Mesa Republican who sponsored the bill. "You can't break into my country, just like you can't break into my house."

"It will be, there's no doubt, the toughest immigration enforcement bill in the nation," said Pearce, a former deputy in the Maricopa County Sherriff's Office, where he worked for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, nicknamed "America's toughest sheriff." Arpaio, who has stirred controversy over his roundups of illegal immigrants, is being investigated by the federal government for alleged racial profiling.

Immigrant rights groups believe the bill, especially the trespassing provision, will further burden the already stretched-thin resources of local law enforcement agencies, result in hassles of U.S. citizens, and encourage cops to arrest and charge people based on racial profiling.

"The really dangerous impact is the creation of a new state crime related to trespassing. If law enforcement has a reasonable suspicion that someone is undocumented they can be stopped and forced to prove they're a U.S. citizen. If they can't prove it, they can be arrested," said Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, an immigrant advocacy group,
"But reasonable suspicion is so broad and the law provides no definition and no training for law enforcement on how to identify someone. It essentially mandates racial profiling," she said.

Pearce said he "was not advocating roundups." By creating a law that "eliminates all sanctuary policies," illegal immigrants -- unable to work, travel or even be present in the state -- would ultimately "leave on their own."

The senator argues the state law puts teeth in federal laws already on the books, by turning misdemeanors, like employing day laborers, into felonies.

Similar bills were vetoed three times by former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, but current Gov. Jan Brewer has signaled she will sign the bill once it reaches her desk.


This weekend Republican U.S. Senator John McCain will campaign in Arizona with his former vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin.

McCain is in the midst of one of the toughest primary campaigns of a lengthy career in politics.

McCain, who once back a bipartisan effort to grant illegal immigrants amnesty, has deflected questions about whether he supports the legislation.

"It's a state issue," McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told ABC News via e-mail.

Contender J.D. Hayworth, a former Republican congressman, however, has come out to actively support the bill and used McCain's ambiguity to attack him.

"Sen. Russell Pearce of the Arizona State Senate has worked very hard to combat illegal immigration and I think his Senate bill 1070 is a good bill," Hayworth told ABC News.

"Simply stated, we need to give law enforcement officers the tools to do their jobs. Border security is national security and it's time to take handcuffs off law enforcement and put them on criminals who break our laws."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/arizona-state- ... 698&page=2

That's how to be a leader. Way to go Arizona.

Now.... Can other states get their acts together?

Senator Pearce: I am not worthy!! Thank-you, thank-you for being willing to stand up for the truth, and the American people!!

Arizona: Thank-you fellow Patriots. I have to admit, I would not have guessed a few years ago that Arizona would be at the forefront in this fight, but I see you are now a role model for other states. Keep it up Arizona!!

"The really dangerous impact is the creation of a new state crime related to trespassing. If law enforcement has a reasonable suspicion that someone is undocumented they can be stopped and forced to prove they're a U.S. citizen. If they can't prove it, they can be arrested," said Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network, an immigrant advocacy group,

YEA...I think you get it! DANGEROUS for illegal invaders!

"Simply stated, we need to give law enforcement officers the tools to do their jobs. Border security is national security and it's time to take handcuffs off law enforcement and put them on criminals who break our laws."

It's excellent that somebody is willing to stand up for what's right! All of the states need to do this.

Just signed up to this site- glad to be part of 'the resistance'.
This bill has been getting alot of attention here lately, and I for one am glad to see it building such support and momentum. I was born and raised here (actually, my family has been here since way before it was even a territory), and it has frustrated me to see the beautiful, pristine desert national parks here get utterly trashed by incoming criminals, as well as the family neighborhoods that are now dangerous barrios. I grew up around the 'latino' culture here (as did my father, and my grandfather, , etc...), and we have always had a healthy respect for that culture in general, though it is not my own. The ones I know, and that I grew up around, are warm, hard working people who embraced being in this nation legally, and assimilated (they kept their cultural roots and traditions, just respected and incorporated our traditions here as well). They are definitely being dishonored by the actions of those who cross here in defiance of sovereign law. So, it is the criminal insurgent and "entitlement" dynamic itself that I have such a seething problem with.
It is worth noting also that the illegal ones themselves perhaps do not even realize that they are simply being used as political tools by an over-arching extreme leftist paradigm with an agenda of dominion (as well as the other far extreme, using them solely as pawns in their corporate fueled agenda of profit by any means). They don't care one lick about the 'plight of the noble migrant worker'. If they did, they would help them facilitate changes in their OWN lands. But, alas, no.
I wonder if the situation might alter if they were to realize that. Ah, but with all the freebies and propaganda I doubt that would happen..Just a thought. Sorry for the long post, but this gets me fired up!!

Welcome ghostbear. Interesting comments and glad you found us.

Welcome Ghostbear


Arizona is really starting to get tough, now that nappy is gone.


GO ARIZONA!!!!

Ghostbear wrote:

They are definitely being dishonored by the actions of those who cross here in defiance of sovereign law. So, it is the criminal insurgent and "entitlement" dynamic itself that I have such a seething problem with.
It is worth noting also that the illegal ones themselves perhaps do not even realize that they are simply being used as political tools by an over-arching extreme leftist paradigm with an agenda of dominion. They don't care one lick about the 'plight of the noble migrant worker'. If they did, they would help them facilitate changes in their OWN lands. But, alas, no.
I wonder if the situation might alter if they were to realize that. Ah, but with all the freebies and propaganda I doubt that would happen..Just a thought. Sorry for the long post, but this gets me fired up!!

Welcome to ALIPAC, Ghostbear! Thanks for sharing your experiences growing up in Arizona.

Originally Posted by cube

"Simply stated, we need to give law enforcement officers the tools to do their jobs. Border security is national security and it's time to take handcuffs off law enforcement and put them on criminals who break our laws."

It's excellent that somebody is willing to stand up for what's right! All of the states need to do this.

Welcome to ALIPAC Cube!!