Arizona Immigration Enforcement Law

http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-23/obama-calls-for-immigration-law-overhaul-after-misguided-arizona-action.html

By PAUL DAVENPORT and JONATHAN J. COOPER
The Associated Press
Friday, April 23, 2010; 10:40 PM

PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama on Friday and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation's busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico.

With hundreds of protesters outside the state Capitol shouting that the bill would lead to civil rights abuses, Brewer said critics were "overreacting" and that she wouldn't tolerate racial profiling.

"We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act," Brewer said after signing the law. "But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation."

Earlier Friday, Obama called the Arizona bill "misguided" and instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it's legal. He also said the federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level - or leave the door open to "irresponsibility by others."

"That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe," Obama said.

The legislation, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It also requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants; allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws; and makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.

The law sends "a clear message that Arizona is unfriendly to undocumented aliens," said Peter Spiro, a Temple University law professor and author of the book "Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization."

Brewer signed the bill in a state auditorium about a mile from the Capitol complex where some 2,000 demonstrators booed when county Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox announced that "the governor did not listen to our prayers."

"It's going to change our lives," said Emilio Almodovar, a 13-year-old American citizen from Phoenix. "We can't walk to school any more. We can't be in the streets anymore without the pigs thinking we're illegal immigrants."

Protesters gathered in Miami Friday evening at the Freedom Tower, where thousands of Cuban refugees were processed after fleeing the communist revolution.

"A thousand people a day are being deported. A thousand families being destroyed. And this comes at a very high moral and financial cost to this nation," said Maria Rodriguez, executive director of the Florida Immigration Coalition.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund said it plans a legal challenge to the law, arguing it "launches Arizona into a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions."

William Sanchez, president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders Legal Defense Fund, said his group is preparing a federal lawsuit against Arizona to stop the law from being applied. The group represents 30,000 Evangelical churches nationwide, including 300 Latino pastors in Arizona.

"Millions of Latinos around the country are shocked," Sanchez said.

Mexico has warned the proposal could affect cross-border relations. On Thursday, Mexico's Senate unanimously passed a resolution urging Brewer to veto the law.

"Police in Arizona already treat migrants worse than animals," said Francisco Loureiro, an activist who runs a migrant shelter in the border town of Nogales, Mexico. "There is already a hunt for migrants, and now it will be open season under the cover of a law."

Guatemalan Vice President Rafael Estrada said the law "is a step back for those migrants who have fought" for their rights. Guatemala's Foreign Relations Department decried the measure in a statement saying "it threatens basic notions of justice."

The law will take effect in late July or early August, and Brewer ordered the state's law enforcement licensing agency to develop a training course on how to implement it without violating civil rights.

"We must enforce the law evenly, and without regard to skin color, accent, or social status," she said. "We must prove the alarmists and the cynics wrong."

Brewer, who faces a tough election battle and growing anger in the state over illegal immigrants, said the law "protects every Arizona citizen."

Anti-immigrant anger has swelled in the past month, after rancher Rob Krentz was found dead on his land north of Douglas, near the Mexico border. Authorities believe he was fatally shot by an illegal immigrant possibly connected to a drug smuggling cartel.

Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants, and its harsh, remote desert serves as the corridor for the majority of illegal immigrants and drugs moving north into the U.S. from Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat, said he closed his Arizona offices at noon Friday after his staff in Yuma and Tucson were flooded with calls, some from people threatening violent acts and shouting racial slurs. He called on businesses and groups looking for convention and meeting locations to boycott Arizona.

The bill's Republican sponsor, state Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, said Obama and other critics of the bill were "against law enforcement, our citizens and the rule of law."

Pearce said the legislation would remove "political handcuffs" from police and help drive illegal immigrants from the state.

"Illegal is illegal," said Pearce, a driving force on the issue in Arizona. "We'll have less crime. We'll have lower taxes. We'll have safer neighborhoods. We'll have shorter lines in the emergency rooms. We'll have smaller classrooms."

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/23/20100423arizona-immigration-law-passed.html

Arizona governor signs immigration law; foes promise fight

1398 comments by Craig Harris, Alia Beard Rau and Glen Creno - Apr. 24, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Moments after Gov. Jan Brewer signed Arizona's controversial new immigration law Friday, opponents promised legal challenges and economic sanctions against a state still reeling from the housing meltdown.

Before and after Senate Bill 1070 became law at 1:30 p.m., civil unrest punctuated by loud protests and several minor clashes took place at the state Capitol, where more than 1,500 people gathered to chant, pray and either praise or castigate the Republican governor.

At least four protesters were arrested, several after hurling water bottles at police officers in riot gear.

Brewer, who faces a stiff primary challenge and needs conservatives to keep her in office, said the law represents another tool for the state to "work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix - the crisis caused by illegal immigration and Arizona's porous border."

The legislation put Arizona in the national spotlight, with President Barack Obama weighing in on it earlier in the day and cable-news giant CNN broadcasting live Brewer's signing and the Capitol demonstrations.

Even the Mexican government issued a formal statement, saying it "laments that Arizona lawmakers and the executive branch didn't take into account immigrants' contributions - economically, socially and culturally."

"The criminalization isn't the path to resolve the undocumented-immigration phenomenon," the statement added.

The legislation has widespread support among Arizonans, according to one recent poll, but Latino leaders compared the bill to apartheid in South Africa and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. A handful of teenage girls, among the hundreds of high-school students attending a Statehouse rally, openly wept after it was announced that Brewer signed the bill.

"This is the most reprehensible thing since the Japanese internment," said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state senator and community leader. "This is the saddest day for me. It's shameful."

Arizona's immigration law, now considered the toughest in the nation, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws. It will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card or other proof of citizenship, such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.

It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, and traffic is impeded in the process, would also be committing a criminal act.

The law goes into effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, likely in early May.

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, the bill's sponsor, called it "a good day for America," saying the law is reasonable.

Best for Arizona

After receiving intense pressure from both sides during the past week, the governor stepped to a lectern in a crowded room near the Capitol and said she would sign SB 1070 into law.

"This bill strengthens the laws of our state, protects all of us, every Arizona citizen," she said. "It does so while ensuring that the constitutional rights of all remain solid, stable."

Brewer said that she listened patiently to supporters and opponents and that, although "many people disagree, I firmly believe it represents what's best for Arizona." She criticized the federal government for a lack of action to secure the border, and she said her signature provided "security within our borders."

"We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels," Brewer said. "We cannot stand idly by as drophouses, kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life."

Brewer insisted that protections built into the bill and training she has requested from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board will protect citizens against discrimination based on race or color. Yet law enforcement has been split over the bill, with many rank-and-file officer groups supporting it and the police chiefs association opposing it.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is among the supporters who believe it will give officers more tools to detain illegal immigrants.

Critics suggest the law opens the door for police to make unreasonable stops based on skin color or a lack of English fluency if there's probable cause to believe someone is in America illegally.

"We've got some very serious crime problems out there, and this bill does not address them. It does not give us tools to go after criminals that are part of the cartels," said Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat who is running for governor.

The faith community also weighed in, with clergy criticizing the law and calling for calm.

Inside a chapel at Queen of Peace in Mesa, a congregation gathered for a monthly healing Mass.

Father Charlie Goraieb comforted his congregation, saying in Spanish, "It's going to be all right."

His parish is 60 percent Latino.

"It's a terrible situation and a reflection of fear and overreaction and total loss of perspective and how we are as a people and as a nation," he said before Mass.

Josefina Martinez, 56, of Phoenix, said, "I lived here for 25 years. I never had to deal with this. It's not fair."

Earlier in the day, Rabbi Maynard Bell, the Arizona office of the American Jewish Committee's area director, said the law makes a laughingstock of the state and does nothing to make the border with Mexico more secure.

"It's going to cost the state economically. It's going to tarnish the state's image. It's a lamentable day for Arizona," Bell said. "I don't think it will stand up to legal tests."

Legal fights

Just after Brewer signed the bill, opponents promised legal and economic fights.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said he will ask the City Council on Tuesday to consider suing the state on grounds the new immigration law is unconstitutional and unenforceable.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a civil-rights group, promised to fight implementation of the law by challenging its constitutionality. But the ACLU said the timing and strategy have to be worked out.

"We are definitely planning on filing a lawsuit," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, the group's Arizona executive director. "This is a direct attempt by Arizona to regulate immigration laws. And it's forbidden by the federal government."

Bill opponent Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said that the legislation violates the rights of all Arizonans and that a legal team will seek an injunction to keep the law from being implemented.

Gutierrez said he will lead efforts for economic sanctions against Arizona. He declined to disclose details, but one proposed sanction would include boycotts by out-of-state tourists.

Capitol protests

At the Capitol, demonstrators exchanged catcalls after Brewer's announcement, and roughly 80 police officers from the Capitol Police, the state Department of Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department worked to maintain order.

There were at least two breakouts of unruly behavior. One occurred when a white-haired man with a beard agitated demonstrators opposing the bill. Police tried to calm the crowd as it closed around the man, who was escorted away. Dozens of demonstrators ran into the streets, and police formed a long human barrier on West Jefferson Street just south of the Capitol complex.

Amid shouting and chanting all day, police made sure the sides were separated. Supporters of the bill stayed in the courtyard between the House and Senate buildings, guarded by police and roped off with police tape.

Supporter Terry Irish of Chandler was elated when Brewer announced her decision.

"This thing wouldn't be happening if they had sealed our borders," Irish said.

Those leading the rally urged protesters to follow the example of civil-rights leader Cesar Chavez, who in 1972 led the unionization of farmworkers in direct opposition to Arizona law. They also urged peaceful opposition, and despite several flare-ups, no serious injuries were reported.

In southern Arizona, however, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who opposed the law, closed his offices at noon after receiving multiple threats.

Arizona has about 460,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
. Currently, immigration offenses are violations of federal law, something most local law-enforcement agencies cannot enforce.

Pearce, the Mesa Republican, has been working with groups across the state and nation for years to craft legislation that would toughen enforcement.

Republic reporters Scott Wong, Sadie Jo Smokey, Casey Newton, Mary Jo Pitzl and Angelique Soenarie contributed to this article.

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Associated Press writers Julie Pace in Washington, Olga R. Rodriguez in Mexico City, Christine Armario in Miami and Angel Sas in Guatemala City contributed to this report.

http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-23/obama-calls-for-immigration-law-overhaul-after-misguided-arizona-action.html
Last update: 07:55 PM ET, Apr 23
Obama Seeks Immigration Overhaul, Slams Arizona Law
By Roger Runningen - Apr 23, 2010

President Barack Obama called anew for overhauling the nation’s immigration laws, saying a failure to do so will lead to “misguided” efforts such as legislation passed in Arizona.

“Our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others,” Obama said at a Rose Garden naturalization ceremony for 24 members of the U.S. military. “That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona.”

The state legislature passed a bill that would make it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and require local police to determine the immigration status of anyone an officer suspects of being in the country without proper documentation.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is running for a new term this year, signed the bill into law at a ceremony attended by several state officials hours after Obama’s comments. Brewer said she expects the measure to face constitutional challenges.

The measure has sparked protests in the state, where Census Bureau figures show about a quarter of the population is of Hispanic descent. It also shares a border with Mexico and has an estimated 460,000 residents living there illegally, the seventh highest total in the country, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

‘Notions of Fairness’

The actions by the Arizona legislature threaten “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans,” Obama said. It also may hamper trust between residents and law enforcement authorities, he said.

He said he has instructed U.S. authorities to monitor the state’s actions and to “examine the civil rights and other implications” of the legislation.

The president’s comments came at a naturalization ceremony for 24 U.S. soldiers from 16 countries who took the oath to become citizens.

Democratic congressional leaders have said an overhaul of U.S. immigration law could advance through Congress this year if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can pick up enough Republican support to get it through the chamber.

The last try at revamping the law to create a guest worker program and provide a path to citizenship for some of those living in the U.S. illegally was in 2007. That was blocked amid opposition from Republicans and some Democrats.

Call for Solution

“Surely we can all agree that when 11 million people in our country are living here illegally, outside the system, that’s unacceptable,” Obama said. “The American people demand and deserve a solution.”

Obama lauded the work of Senators Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, to come up with a framework for legislation that can win bipartisan support.

Graham has said he’ll introduce legislation only after it’s finished and at least one other Republican signs on. He said this week that any effort to move immigration this year will fail badly because both parties need to “lay the groundwork” politically with tough border-control approaches first.

The president has been making calls to members of Congress, including Republicans, to win support for tackling an immigration law overhaul, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net;