Sanchez: Arizona immigration bill means profiling

April 21st, 2010, 10:52 am
by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief

Rep. Loretta Sanchez said on MSNBC Wednesday that law the Arizona legislature has passed that would give police the power to stop people on the street and ask them to prove they are in the United States legally “does have the probability for racial profiling.’’

Immigration advocates and congressional lawmakers –particularly Hispanic members – have been up in arms over this bill that now sits on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk. It’s believed to be the toughest immigration enforcement measure ever passed by a state legislature.

Arizona’s Republican governor – who replaced Janet Napolitano, now homeland security secretary -has not publicly stated her position on the bill. She has until Saturday to make up her mind.

“Certainly we as Americans have always been against an ID card’’ said Sanchez, D-Santa Ana. “All of a sudden you have a class of people who have to carry paperwork around.’’

Sanchez, a Latina born in Orange County, said she doesn’t carry her birth certificate around. Given her ethnicity she could well be stopped under a law like this.

“Does that mean they’ll deport me?â€