Gordon Awaits Answer on Immigration Order
January 29th, 2008 @ 12:11pm
by Bob McClay/KTAR

The holidays and the Super Bowl have delayed work on changing the Phoenix Police Department's immigration policies, Mayor Phil Gordon said Tuesday.

Gordon said a four-man panel he appointed in November to come up with recommendations still is working hard.

``They are near completion is what I'm informed, I don't have specifics," he said.

Currently, Phoenix police officers are barred from asking people they stop about their immigration status.

Gordon has said that needs to be changed although the police chief and police union maintain the federal government is responsible for enforcing immigration laws.

The mayor said Tuesday he wants a policy that ``will make sure we can go after the real bad guys, that it doesn't violate the Constitution, doesn't do racial profiling."

Serving on the panel are former U.S. Attorneys for Arizona Paul Charlton and Juan Rivera, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods and former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley.

http://news.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=716439