Thread: Editorial: Don't imitate Arizona immigration law, With Poll

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9088.story

Don't imitate Arizona immigration law
Police unease argues against a similar immigration law in Florida.


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June 4, 2010

Proving that they know how to read polls, politicians in Florida have been lining up behind Arizona's controversial new law cracking down on illegal immigration.

Republican candidate for governor Rick Scott has made support for the law a major plank in his platform, and goaded the GOP front-runner in the race, Attorney General Bill McCollum, into endorsing the idea. The leading Republican for U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio, also is backing it. Last week, the chairman of a state House panel on crime, Republican William Snyder of Stuart, said he's interested in passing a law in Florida like Arizona's.

Polls show a majority in Florida and across the nation support Arizona's law. But many state and local police, who would enforce the law, oppose it. Their informed perspective would be a much better guide for Florida legislators on this issue than polls or pandering politicians.

The Arizona law was born of understandable frustration over the failure at the federal level to secure the southern border. Illegal immigration, and crime spawned by it, have surged in the state. While Florida has by some estimates a million illegal immigrants, it is not experiencing a crisis like Arizona's.

The new law in Arizona makes illegal immigration a state crime, and requires legal immigrants to carry proof of their status. It directs local and state police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest whom they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally. This kind of immigration law enforcement is normally left to federal authorities.

The Arizona law bars police from considering race, color or nationality "except to the extent permitted by the United States or Arizona Constitution." Legal experts disagree whether this language will, in practice, rule out profiling, especially when police may not be trained in all the details. It is hard to imagine police will ignore race, color or national origin in deciding whether to check immigration status.

But police brass in Arizona and other states are wary of adding immigration enforcement to their core responsibilities of fighting and investigating state and local crimes. They argue that turning local cops into immigration agents will discourage immigrant communities from reporting crime and cooperating with police.

The president of the Arizona police chiefs association also has criticized the law for the additional burden on local forces and the possibility they might be hit with civil-rights lawsuits.

In Central Florida, a spokesman for Orange County's sheriff said his department focuses on fighting local and state crimes and refers possible immigration violations to federal authorities. "We're not going to stretch our resources into federal enforcement," Capt. Angelo Nieves said.

Spokesmen for Lake and Volusia sheriffs said they would welcome immigration enforcement authority, but not as an Arizona-style mandate.

There are already procedures in place for local police to contact federal authorities when they suspect someone they've arrested is in the country illegally. There's also a program that lets select local cops be trained in immigration enforcement, though no Central Florida agencies are participating. Both approaches make more sense for Florida, given police misgivings about the Arizona law.

Florida legislators who are more interested in promoting public safety than their own political careers will listen to police. They'll redirect their effort toward persuading the state's congressional delegation to get back to work on a national plan to deal with illegal immigration.

Copyright © 2010, Orlando Sentinel

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9088.story

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