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Thursday, June 16, 2005
Police mixed on enforcing smuggler law

Some say they will continue to call federal authorities to arrest migrant smugglers, despite being granted the power to lock them up. The law takes effect Aug. 12.

The Associated Press

PHOENIX - Some police departments in Arizona will continue to ask federal authorities to arrest migrant smugglers in their communities, even though local police agencies will soon have the power to lock up people who sneak thousands of immigrants into the state each year.
Enforcement of immigration law has long been considered the domain of federal authorities, but state lawmakers frustrated by the federal government's perceived inaction in repairing America's immigration system approved a law in March that created the state crime of human smuggling.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, whose jurisdiction includes 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, said he isn't looking forward to spending his office's scarce resources on enforcing the new law, which provided no additional money to police.

"We will do what we can, but we are limited," Estrada said.

Republican Rep. Jonathan Paton of Tucson, one of the law's top proponents, said he will seek additional money during the next session of the Legislature for border counties to combat migrant smuggling.

Paton said immigration is the top priority for voters in his district, which sits in Arizona's illegal migration path.

"We are giving police the ability to address what we are hearing from constituents," Paton said. "That should be one of their priorities. That's what the public is asking for."

Capt. Eben Bratcher, spokesman for the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, said deputies in Yuma County will continue to contact federal agents when they come across immigrants and migrant smugglers.

If federal agents are unable to respond to a smuggler case, the law will enable Yuma County deputies to take action, Bratcher said. "The actual impact on us is going to be minimal," he said.

Supporters have said the law giving state and local police the power to arrest migrant smugglers should help lessen the burden that illegal immigration places on Arizona, the busiest illicit entry point along the country's porous southern border.

Opponents say the law, which takes effect Aug. 12, won't do anything to confront the mass of problems tied to illegal immigration and will detract from the roles that police departments have traditionally played in investigating thefts, violence and other crimes in their communities.

Another proposal that would have given police an even broader authority to enforce federal immigration laws was vetoed last month by Gov. Janet Napolitano, who criticized it for not providing any money to carry out such duties.

While immigration emerges as a more salient priority in Arizona politics, Napolitano has planned a July 12 meeting of police, prosecutors, federal agents and others in Arizona to discuss ways state and local government can confront illegal immigration.

Even though immigrants provide the American economy with cheap labor, Arizona and other border states shoulder huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families and for locking up immigrants who break the law.

Casa Grande Police Chief Robert Huddleston, whose plans for the new law mirror those of his colleague in Yuma County, said the law would add to his department's duties only if federal authorities decide to leave smuggling cases for local police to pursue.
"I suspect they will continue to assist us," Huddleston said. "I don't think they will leave us on our own."

Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for a crackdown on smugglers in Phoenix, declined to comment on the new law's effect.

In response to the law, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he formed a six-person unit to target smuggling bosses.

"I don't expect to concentrate on some guy in a truck with six illegals," Arpaio said. "I want to go after the professional smugglers who do this for money, the top people."

Stephen Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell Law School, said the new law could be open to a court challenge by people who could claim that federal law trumps state law on matters of immigration.

"Almost 100 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the authority to control immigration - to admit or exclude aliens - is vested solely in the federal government," Yale-Loehr said.

Paton responded: "I'm not a constitutional or legal scholar, but I do believe the smuggling portion (of the law) complements federal law."