Dec 29, 2010

States to follow Arizona on immigration law

11:29 AM

Get ready for some states to try for Arizona-style immigration laws.

Gov.-elect Nikki Haley, R-S.C., is among the state chiefs who want to crack down on illegal immigration with legislation that is similar or tougher than Arizona's statute, which allows law enforcement to check on legal status if there is reason to believe someone is in the U.S. illegally.

A federal judge has blocked full enforcement of the Arizona law. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who was re-elected last month, is appealing the ruling.

The National Conference of State Legislatures predicts there could be a record number of state bills dealing with immigration in 2011, according to a Bloomberg story. That would be up from 1,500 such measures filed in each of the past two years.

An Arizona-style immigration bill has already been filed in South Carolina, where the Legislature convenes for a new session starting Jan. 11.

In Oklahoma, GOP legislators Randy Terrill and Mike Christian are trying to make sure immigration is a top priority of new House Speaker Kris Steele, a fellow Republican, who has said he wants to focus on economic development issues.

Terrill is prepping a bill that would consider undocument immigrants as "human contraband," and allow Oklahoma authorities to seize the vehicles of people if an illegal immigrant is a passenger.

Our colleague Alan Gomez has been following the Arizona immigration flap and efforts in Congress to pass immigration laws. He'll have more on the rise of state immigration laws in Thursday's USA TODAY.
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