Arizona may crack down hard on illegal immigrants

[doctordog]

Finally, a state steps up!

PHOENIX – Civil rights activists Wednesday warned that Arizona is inviting rampant racial profiling and police-state tactics if it enacts what would be the toughest law in the nation against illegal immigrants.

The measure — on the verge of approval in the Legislature — would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It would also require local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal.

Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500.

"That is an unprecedented expansion of police power," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. "It's giving police officers a green light to harass anyone who looks or sounds foreign."

The ACLU and immigrant rights groups are demanding Republican Gov. Jan Brewer veto the measure if it reaches her. The Republican has not announced whether she will sign it, but said she is a strong supporter of pragmatic immigration laws.

Her predecessor, Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who is now President Barack Obama's Homeland Security secretary, vetoed similar proposals.

Current law in Arizona and most states doesn't require police to ask about the immigration status of those they encounter, and many police departments prohibit officers from inquiring out of fear immigrants won't cooperate in other investigations.

The new measure would be just the latest crackdown of its kind in Arizona, which has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, the bill's sponsor, has been the driving force behind Arizona's tough new measures, including a law copied in other states that punishes companies caught knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

"I believe handcuffs are a great tool, but you have to put them on the right people," said Pearce, a former cop who can list the local officers killed or wounded by illegal immigrants. "Get them off the police officers and put them on the bad guys."

Anger over the porous Mexican border mounted last month when an Arizona cattle rancher was shot to death. Investigators said he may have been killed by drug runners working for cartels based in Mexico.

The new measure is supported by police unions representing rank-and-file officers, who deny they would engage in profiling.

It is opposed by police chiefs, who worry that the law would be too costly, that it would distract them from dealing with more serious problems, and that it would sow such distrust among immigrants that they would not cooperate with officers investigating other crimes.

Legal immigrants fear that the law would give officers easy excuses to stop them, and that even U.S. citizens could find themselves detained if they can't prove their legal status.

"When they come up with these things, it doesn't matter if I'm here legally," said Jose Melendez, a 55-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Guadalajara, Mexico. "If they see a Mexican face and a Mexican name, they'll ask for papers."

Anti-immigration activists say the larger goal is to discourage illegal immigration by making the U.S. inhospitable.

"Most illegals would leave on their own if they felt the U.S. was serious about our laws," said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee.

House Republicans passed the bill on a party-line vote Tuesday. The Senate approved it in February but must vote on changes made in the House before sending it to the governor.

The law also would crack down on employment for illegal immigrants by prohibiting people from blocking traffic when they seek or offer day labor on street corners. Also, a judge could fine a city for not enforcing the immigration law vigorously enough.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_arizona_immigration;_ylt=Amou._2iaKGOtExWGNDzry KWwvIE;_ylu=X3oDMTNiMXVkZzRkBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwND E0L3VzX2FyaXpvbmFfaW1taWdyYXRpb24EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBv cHVsYXIEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3Rvcmllcw RzbGsDYXJpem9uYW1heWNy

[GetAClue]

It's a sad state of affairs when we have to pass special laws that makes being an illegal allien, illegal. I thought being in this country illegally was already illegal. But in our politically correct society that is being run into the mud by progressivism, that is the reallity that we face.

[doctordog]

It's a sad state of affairs when we have to pass special laws that makes being an illegal allien, illegal. I thought being in this country illegally was already illegal. But in our politically correct society that is being run into the mud by progressivism, that is the reallity that we face.

I agree, nothing pisses me off more that to call some corporation or government office and hear "Push 1 for English or 2 for Spanish". If you are going to live hear and make a positive contribution to society the minimum requirement should be English, shit!

[GetAClue]

This is the kind of law that really disgusts me. I don't disagree with what they are trying to do, it is just the fact that they have to actually put it into a law that upsets me. Common Sense has been pushed aside by the politically correct crowd of do-gooders.

Another one that always got me was the so-called "Hate Crime" legislation. Isn't ALL crime hateful by nature? These laws were nothing more than giving special treatments to certain groups of people under the auspices of political correctness masking its true purpose of placating to the fringe elements of the liberal base. These hate crime laws remind me of the line in the book “Animal Farm” where one of the Seven Commandments is changed from “All animals are equal” to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

[Hawkeye2j]

This is the kind of law that really disgusts me. I don't disagree with what they are trying to do, it is just the fact that they have to actually put it into a law that upsets me. Common Sense has been pushed aside by the politically correct crowd of do-gooders.

Another one that always got me was the so-called "Hate Crime" legislation. Isn't ALL crime hateful by nature? These laws were nothing more than giving special treatments to certain groups of people under the auspices of political correctness masking its true purpose of placating to the fringe elements of the liberal base. These hate crime laws remind me of the line in the book “Animal Farm” where one of the Seven Commandments is changed from “All animals are equal” to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
It will be found unconstitutional. It allows the government to stop people without probable cause.

[GetAClue]

It will be found unconstitutional. It allows the government to stop people without probable cause.
And you are probably right. I just wish that the courts were consistant in that way. If so, we should expect the HC bill to be declared unconsititutional also. :thumbsup:

[Hawkeye2j]

And you are probably right. I just wish that the courts were consistant in that way. If so, we should expect the HC bill to be declared unconsititutional also. :thumbsup:
Based on what? Legal scholars are just about unanimous in saying that the HC bill is Constitutional.

[GetAClue]

Based on what? Legal scholars are just about unanimous in saying that the HC bill is Constitutional.
While others (that you choose to ignore) cite that requiring citizens to buy a product from a private sector company is unconstitutional. But whatever floats your boat. You are more than happy to let the government run every aspect of your life. Good for you. However, there are those of us that still believe in hard work and making an honest living. We choose to support ourselves and don't sit back and wait for the government to hand us something.

You should try it once, it is truly rewarding.

[Hawkeye2j]

While others (that you choose to ignore) cite that requiring citizens to buy a product from a private sector company is unconstitutional. But whatever floats your boat. You are more than happy to let the government run every aspect of your life. Good for you. However, there are those of us that still believe in hard work and making an honest living. We choose to support ourselves and don't sit back and wait for the government to hand us something.

You should try it once, it is truly rewarding.

Whatever I feel about it makes no difference to whether or not it is Constitutional.

[GetAClue]

Whatever I feel about it makes no difference to whether or not it is Constitutional.
You are correct. The scarey thing is that we have to worry about how judges like Sotomayor "feel" about it. That is the problem. We have judges that will base their decisions on how they "feel" instead of based upon what is Constitutional.

[Hawkeye2j]

You are correct. The scarey thing is that we have to worry about how judges like Sotomayor "feel" about it. That is the problem. We have judges that will base their decisions on how they "feel" instead of based upon what is Constitutional.
And you base this on the empathy factor? Guess what Judge Roberts also made the empathy statements in his confirmation hearings.

[Libertarian94]

The only reason why we see illegals as a issue is the entitlement programs we currently have. So we have people come here to get on welfare and make no effort to make themselves productive citizens which is why we have people bitching about the illegals. If we to get rid of these programs and replace them with private charities that help the genuinely misforturned, we could open the borders and only people who want to be productive. Immigration can be quite an asset if we handled it properly, instead of paying people to come here and twiddle their thumbs.