Thread: Signatures of immigration measure challenged

Signatures of immigration measure challenged

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 25, 2006 12:00 AM

A coalition of mostly Latino organizations is challenging the validity of signatures behind a ballot measure that would reform immigration enforcement in Phoenix.

The group is expected to announce today the details of a lawsuit that will call into question more than 700 signatures behind an initiative on the Nov. 7 ballot. The initiative, if approved, would require Phoenix police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

Randy Pullen, the initiative's main proponent, said he wasn't surprised or concerned.

"They do this every time," Pullen said, referring to the opposing community groups. "We went through this same drill with Proposition 200. Nothing is going to come of it. The City Clerk's Office did a very thorough job of reviewing the signatures."

Proposition 200 is a voter-approved measure that aims to restrict certain public benefits to undocumented immigrants and prevent them from voting.

Initiative opponents, including We Are America and several state lawmakers, allege that at least 700 signatures approved by the City Clerk are invalid because they come from people who do not live in Phoenix. Only Phoenix residents can vote on the city initiative.

Joel Foster, a spokesman for the coalition, also said that some of the signature gatherers are felons, which state law prohibits.

"The law is set up so that an initiative qualifies based on the support of the people," Foster said. "And if Randy Pullen wasn't able to gather enough signatures, then clearly the people of Phoenix don't support this type of initiative."

David Ramirez, a city spokesman, said that no formal complaints have been filed with the city, nor has it been notified of any legal challenge. He also said that the city doesn't conduct background checks on the people circulating the petitions because they are required to sign an affidavit swearing they are qualified to do the job.

The clerk's office verified that 15,052 of the 23,000 signatures that Pullen's group turned in were valid. At least 14,844 signatures were required to get their measure on the ballot.

Jeff Groshko, 38, of Phoenix, supports the initiative and wants to vote on the issue.

He said the challenge is "taking away power from the people" to decide.

"It's the bigwigs that are against this," Groshko said. "But the illegals are breaking the law, the police can't turn a blind eye to that. The illegals don't belong here."

Critics of the initiative say that Pullen's initiative won't solve the problem of illegal immigration, but residents like Groshko say "we have to start somewhere."

Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, is among the state lawmakers against Pullen's initiative.

"This type of legislation is not going to slow down the number of folks coming across the border," he said. "What this does is hinder law enforcement from their primary responsibility, and that is to protect our neighborhoods and protect our families."

http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clickt ... n0825.html

Duplicate article. Posted earlier. Please watch the duplicates.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=33156

See http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=38989