http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=57555

Bonanza of border bills
Tribune Editorial
January 22, 2006
Immigration-control madness has gripped the state Capitol as Republicans and Democrats rush to prove their own side can do more to protect us from the federal government’s failures.

Politicians from both major parties are offering half-baked proposals while ignoring the real progress that appears to be taking place in Washington, D.C. No wonder we have gotten so cynical about election-year politics.

Just how bad is it? Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley, has filed SB1157, which would make the mere presence of an illegal immigrant anywhere in Arizona a crime of felony trespassing, whether on public or private property. The bill says Leff’s intent is to punish only those who return illegally after being deported once, but the decision on whether to prosecute first-time offenders would be left up to the justice system.

Since average Arizonans certainly wouldn’t want to be accused of aiding such felons, presumably we will be expected to ask for citizenship papers and green cards before we invite anyone into our homes. And it isn’t likely that people who happen to look Latino or speak Spanish will be asked to show those papers far more often those who look Anglo-Saxon, African or Asian?

Democrats aren’t doing any better. Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-Phoenix, offered SB1215 to empower Attorney General Terry Goddard to fine any business that doesn’t sign up for a voluntary federal pilot program where businesses use the Web to check if potential employees have permission to work here. To make clear Brotherton’s intent, SB1216 would boldly make hiring a illegal immigrant a civil violation of state law.

All of this ignores a hard reality that states have little authority to act on immigration issues, and for good reason. The president and Congress would be hard-pressed to establish a coherent foreign policy if each state tried to determine on its own who can legally be here.

Goddard said he believes Brotherton’s general concept is sound, but admits his office is still researching to determine exactly where Arizona can find the legal authority to tell businesses which immigrants they can hire.

“This is a case of where we have thread the needle of . . . supplementing the federal government rather than supplanting it,� Goddard said.

There’s also the sheer impracticality of Brotherton’s idea. The federal program handles only about 3,600 employers and has 38 researchers to back up an electronic database that has an error rate of at least 15 percent. Arizona alone had more than 100,000 companies that filed tax forms through October 2005, according to the state Department of Revenue. Until Congress properly funds an employee-verification system, any state enforcement would simply self-destruct.

The real danger in either of these proposals becoming law is they could create a false hope among Arizonans that might reduce pressure on Congress to enact serious immigration reform.

There are a few immediate steps the state could take to ease everyone’s frustration. Sen. Tim Bee, R-Tucson, has proposed a $20 million pilot program to install ground radar sites for use by the U.S. Border Patrol. Local police can get federal training to properly arrest any suspected illegal immigrants they might encounter, and state leaders agree we have money to pay for that as well.

And Gov. Janet Napolitano is willing to send more National Guard troops to assist federal agents in securing the border, if the Pentagon pays for it.

There’s almost no chance that last item will happen. But at least Napolitano and Bee have discovered the right approach â€â€