http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/121031

Published: 03.21.2006

Lawmakers face 50 bills that deal with border
By C.J. Karamargin
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PHOENIX — The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps begins kicking up dust along Arizona's border with Mexico on April 1.
State lawmakers have been doing much the same thing at the Capitol since January.

But whether its Minutemen in their fatigues and hiking boots or lawmakers in their suits and ties, both want to stanch a torrent of illegal immigration.

Upwards of 50 bills dealing with the border and illegal immigration have come before the Republican-controlled Legislature this session, more than in any other session in state history.

"The country — the people, the media, members of Congress — realizes this is a big issue," said Randy Graf, a Minuteman supporter and former state lawmaker now running for Congress. "The Legislature reflects that."

So do the speeches of Gov. Janet Napolitano. The first-term Democrat kicked off this session on Jan. 9 with a muscular pitch "to fight crime and increase border security for lawful commerce, tourism and legal immigration."

Exactly three months later, Napolitano vetoed a bill to deploy the National Guard to the border because in her view it usurped the governor's constitutional authority. She also does not want the state to foot the bill for the deployment.

While Napolitano is still interested in bolstering border security with Guard troops, lawmakers are convinced they've found an issue that not only resonates with the voting public but that can be used against the governor as she campaigns for a second term.

Other get-tough bills include proposals to erect a wall along the border, build a road to facilitate law enforcement and bar noncitizens from adult education services.

Among the more benign bills, one calls on Congress to overhaul the country's immigration laws. Such a measure is now before the U.S. Senate. Supported by Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, it calls for the creation of a guest-worker program that some say could remove the incentive for migrants to attempt to enter the country illegally.

To say it is unpopular with some state lawmakers is an understatement.
Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa dismissed the term guest-worker as "a code word for amnesty" for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the country. And the lawmakers who support the measure, including McCain, are "just out of step," he said.

● Contact reporter C.J. Karamargin at 909-8482 or at ckaramargin@azstarnet.com.