POLITICO

Jeb Bush speaks out against Ariz. law

By JONATHAN MARTIN | 4/27/10 3:25 PM EDT


Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is the first to denounce Arizona's controversial new immigration law. AP

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is speaking out against the new hard-line immigration law in Arizona, becoming the first prominent national Republican to do so.

"I think it creates unintended consequences," he said in a telephone interview with POLITICO Tuesday. "It's difficult for me to imagine how you're going to enforce this law. It places a significant burden on local law enforcement and you have civil liberties issues that are significant as well."

The measure, signed into law last Friday, would require police to check the immigration status of any individuals they reasonably suspect are illegal immigrants and arrest them if they can't prove legal status.

Bush said he understood the anger that prompted the bill, but that immigration should remain a federal issue.

"I don't think this is the proper approach," he said.

The former governor recounted how, after he gave a speech Monday night in California, he was approached by a Hispanic man who was concerned about the measure leading to racial profiling and unfair targeting of Latinos.

"He said, 'My parents live here, my grandparents live here — I'm Mexican-American,'" Bush recalled, adding that the man said, "'I could be picked up.'"

Like his brother the former president, Bush is a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform. He said the new law underscores the necessity for such federal legislation — what he called "an opportunity not a problem." On Thursday, Bush will join other conservative leaders on an open-press conference call to renew the push for the stalled legislation.

Bush's comments came on the same day that former Florida Speaker and Senate candidate Marco Rubio also came out in opposition to the Arizona law.

Rubio, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, said the legislation could "unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36427.html