Arizona lawmaker moves to ban illegal immigrants from schools
By Elizabeth Stuart, Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 2:22 p.m. MST

The Arizona lawmaker behind the state's controversial crack down on illegal immigration introduced new legislation this week that would turn public school administrators into de facto immigration enforcement agents.

Russell Pearce, Arizona state senate president, proposed a bill Monday that would deny the children of undocumented immigrants the right to attend public elementary, middle and high school, Arizona's East Valley Tribune reported. The bill also prohibits illegal immigrants from attending college and makes it illegal for undocumented immigrants to drive. Driving without proof of legal residence will land drivers in jail for 30 days. If caught by police, the state may impound and sell illegal immigrant's cars.

Pearce called the legislation "clean up."

"All it does is do what the voters have passed in terms of no taxpayer dollars for illegals," Pearce said. "It just ties it up."

Like its' predecessor SB1070, which requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws, SB1611 will likely wind up in the Supreme Court. Case law prohibits states from discriminating against students for their immigration status.

"They're trying to create tests. This is all aiming for Supreme Court test cases by doing something that is over the constitutional line," Gabriel Chin, a professor at the University of Arizona School of Law, told the Huffington Post. "The problem is that all of these people have taken an oath to support the constitutions of the United States and Arizona. It's really alarming and astonishing that they would deliberately violate the Constitution in this way."

Pearce, who authored SB1070, is also pushing a bill that would deny citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

"If we're going to stop this invasion — and it is an invasion — you're going to have to stop rewarding people for breaking those laws," Pearce told the East Valley Tribune after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill Tuesday. "I make no apology for demanding the taxpayers be protected."

According to Tucson Citizen, Pearce is planning to run for U.S. Congress in 2012. In the meantime, the group Arizonans for Better Government has filed paperwork to recall Russell Pearce from his position as a state senator. So far, more than 1,500 people have signed the petition. To force a recall election, the group needs to collect 7,700 signatures by the end of May.

e-mail: estuart@desnews.com

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