House signals approval for immigration bill

March 23, 2010 4:20 PM

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona House gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a proposal that would criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in the state.

Lawmakers didn't debate the bill's merits before endorsing the measure. The bill would make Arizona the only state to criminalize the presence of the state's estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants through an expansion of its trespassing law.

It also bans soft immigration policies in police agencies and require officers to try to determine people's immigration status when there's reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.

A similar bill cleared the Senate in February and is expected to be heard by committee in the House.


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