Tolleson joins lawsuit aimed at stopping Arizona immigration law
by David Madrid - Jun. 19, 2010 08:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
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Tolleson Mayor Adolfo Gámez says Tolleson is not a sanctuary city that supports illegal immigration.

Nevertheless, the city, which is about 80 percent Hispanic,joined a lawsuit to stop SB 1070 and HB 2162, which amends the Senate bill. The law is scheduled to take effect July 29.

"We just feel that racial profiling may occur," Gámez said. "We feel that it's an unfunded mandate, passing a law and asking cities to have additional training for our police officers when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, which shouldn't be our job."

Enforcing immigration is a federal responsibility, Gámez said.

"For that matter, I can be stopped," he said. "The chief of police can be stopped, because we might fit the profile of an illegal alien, whatever the hell that is. Why should we be subjected to that?"

On June 8, the City Council unanimously voted to allocate up to $20,000 to join a lawsuit that includes Flagstaff, San Luis and Somerton.

José de Jesus Rivera, a Phoenix attorney with a Tucson-based law firm, said a lawsuit on behalf of the cities has been filed in U.S. District Court of Arizona. The cities filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against the state filed on behalf of Tucson police Officer Martin Escobar. He says the law is unconstitutional.

Attorneys filed motions asking the U.S. District Court in Phoenix to stop the law before it goes into effect and until the court can issue its own ruling.

Arizona's immigration law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the Senate bill into law on April 23, later signed HB 2162, which she says prohibits racial profiling. HB 2162 bars race from being considered when deciding whether to inquire about a person's status, "except to the extent permitted by the United States or Arizona Constitution."

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said the language of Tolleson's resolution shows that city leaders are reacting to false information. The governor asks the city to reconsider.

"The law is very specific and clear. In fact, it's redundant," Senseman said, saying racial profiling is illegal. "This misinformation that has been repeated by some national leaders has obviously permeated Tolleson. Hopefully, with those facts that are very clear in the bill, they (council members) would be more comfortable with not only not joining the lawsuit, but with supporting the legislation."

He said a training program for law enforcement officers will help avoid racial profiling. An outline of the program can be found at www.azpost.state.az.us.

The City Council outlined several points in the resolution, which was unanimously approved. The governor disputes each point:

• The law contains ambiguous language such as "reasonable suspicion" and "when practicable" and "policy" that may lead to racial profiling, especially of Hispanics.

• The law states suspects must verify their legal status before being released. However, the law does not provide a timeframe for responding to verification requests, which may lead to lawful visitors, residents and citizens being detained for unreasonable lengths of time, the resolution states.

• The law creates a burden by requiring U.S. citizens to carry papers at all times to prove they are here legally.

• The city may be sued by residents, even if the city acts in good faith.

Gámez said the law is unnecessary. When Tolleson police stop someone for violating the law, if they think a person is here illegally, they call federal authorities, he said.

"That's the way it should be, but we feel it (immigration law) has the potential of people being stopped just by the way they look," he said. "That's wrong. Our community is 80 percent Hispanic. This (racial profiling) can happen anywhere."

The mayor said it is not his job, nor the city's job, to ask residents whether they are legal.

"We assume they all are here legally," Gámez said. "They (Hispanics) live here. They work here. They pay taxes here. We have no reason to assume they are not legal."

If the courts uphold the law, Gámez said the city will follow the law.

Gámez said the law is bad for business. He said the city has been working to lure a grocer to Tolleson, but the grocer backed out because of SB 1070. Gámez would not name the business, but the city has been trying to lure a grocer that caters to Hispanics.

Gámez said he considers Tolleson an all-American city, doing what Americans do: challenging a law it believes will violate its residents' rights.

"Just as the Legislature has a right to pass laws, we have a right to challenge them," he said. "It's the American way."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z0rKBpPy1D

Tolleson, AZ, population 7,199, is located in Arizona's Maricopa county, about 7.4 miles from Glendale and 9.1 miles from Peoria