White: Cops aren't immigration agents
By Gilbert Garcia - Express-News
Web Posted: 07/13/2010 12:00 CDT

Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White addresses the National Council of La Raza. White says Arizona’s controversial immigration law is misguided. He also spoke about education during his speech.

BOB OWEN/rowen@express-news.net

Bill White tried to create some daylight between himself and Gov. Rick Perry on the hot-button issue of immigration Monday whiley denouncing Arizona's controversial new crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

On Saturday, Perry told members of the National Council of La Raza that the Arizona law would be a poor fit for Texas, even while noting Arizona's frustration with a porous border.

Speaking to the same group Monday, White, Perry's Democratic challenger, inched further, suggesting the law's central tenet — that local and state law-enforcement officials should verify the immigration status of people they detain — is fundamentally misguided.

“It would make our communities in Texas less safe, not more safe, if we took our local police officers and deputy sheriffs off the hard job of combating gangs and crime to do routine immigration work,â€