Jul 19, 2010

Arizona faces 'demographic tightrope' in enforcing immigration law

10:18 AM

When Arizona 's new, tougher immigration law goes into effect July 29, police will have to navigate a "demographic tightrope" in distinguishing between a documented and undocumented Hispanic person, The Arizona Republic reports.

The Republic notes that while most illegal immigrants in the United States are Hispanic, a relatively small share of Hispanics are illegal immigrants.

The two groups, however, are more closely tied in some key demographic areas such as income and education levels than either group is with the U.S. population as a whole.

One example: The inability to speak English, along with lack of an ID issued by a government agency, does not always indicate illegal status. The Census Bureau estimates that there are nearly 39,000 U.S.-born Arizona residents who speak Spanish but don't speak English well or at all.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... tion-law/1