Arizona to Criminalize Presence of Undocumented Immigrants
by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Report
A bill currently working its way through the Arizona legislature would criminalize the presence of undocumented immigrants in the state through an expansion of its trespass laws, increase the role of local law enforcement in upholding immigration law and penalize anyone who harbors an undocumented immigrant.
These measures would be the first of their kind in the country, said Alessandra Meetze, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Arizona office, and would "exacerbate the already serious problem that we have of racial profiling. What has happened here basically forces every single locality in Arizona to prioritize immigration enforcement over all else."
The first offense of trespassing by an undocumented immigrant would be a top-tier misdemeanor that would carry a penalty of up to six months in jail, while a second violation would be a mid-tier felony - punishable by one-and-a-half to three years in prison.
Republican Sen. Russell Pearce, the main sponsor of the proposal, said that undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds bring crime and violence to America. "The greatest threat to our neighborhoods is the illegal alien invasion," he said.
Critics such as Kingman Police Chief Robert DeVries worry about the burden of the legislation on local law enforcement. "We are not anti-immigration enforcement," said DeVries, who opposes the bill. "We are just concerned about some of the responsibilities that are being pushed on us and how it affects our ability to provide day-to-day services in our communities."
A report released by the ACLU in October 2009 further disagrees with the assumption that local law enforcement should work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under "the existing 287(g) program, which delegates some federal immigration enforcement authority to certain state and local agencies."
In their statement, the ACLU said that it has "long called for an end to the 287(g) program and continues to strongly oppose ICE's use of the agreements, which have led to increased racial profiling and due process violations across the country ... Disregarding civil rights, breaking bonds between immigrant communities and the police and failing to intelligently prioritize enforcement will only make all of us worse off. ICE should terminate the program immediately."
The ACLU went on to challenge the assumption that immigration, and specifically undocumented immigration, led to an increase in crime.
"Most evidence collected in academic studies shows that immigrants are not more likely, and are probably less likely, to commit crimes. When the city council of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, for example, adopted a local anti-immigrant ordinance, it declared that 'illegal immigration leads to higher crime rates.' Similar public statements have been made by state and federal legislators across the country. But when these claims are put to the test, they fail. In Hazleton itself, for example, the crime rate decreased at the same time that the number of immigrants in Hazleton was increasing, and evidence showed that undocumented immigrants were suspected in only 21 out of 8,571 crimes from over five years."
The state attempted to pass similar legislation in 2006, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Napolitano, a Democrat, said she was against automatically turning all immigrants who sneaked into the state into criminals and did not think the legislation was a solution to undocumented immigration.
"It is unfortunate that the Legislature has once again ignored the officials who are most directly affected by illegal immigration and instead has passed yet another bill that will have no effect on the problem but that will impose an unfunded burden on law enforcement," she said.
An estimated 460,000 undocumented immigrants live in Arizona, and its border with Mexico is one of the heaviest crossing points into the United States. In 2005, 253 people died trying to cross the desert into Arizona.
It is also home to the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, who is known for his jails where detainees live in tents in the desert, and his crackdown on undocumented immigration through his police force. Arpaio is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations and the FBI for abuse of power.
Meetze says that the bill, which the House could vote on as early as this week, is likely to pass under Arizona's Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. Though "in Maricopa County it is so bad already it may not make a difference," she said, "the implications [of this bill] are going to be drastic for the community."
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Comments
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We are just getting
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 20:02 β Kevin (not verified)We are just getting started!
List of illegal alien invader laws passed by the voters of Arizona:
2000
Prop 203 - Requires all public school instruction to be given in the English language, except students designated as "English Learners" who would be placed in an intensive English immersion program.
2004
Prop 200 - Requires that voters be able to produce both identification and proof of citizenship prior to being allowed to vote in any election. The same requirements were also enacted for any person prior to receiving any state or locally funded benefits.
2006
Prop 100 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny bail to persons charged with serious felonies who are in the US illegally.
Prop 102 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny the award of punitive damages in civil court cases to persons who are in the US illegally
Prop 102 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to declare English the official language of the state.
Prop 300 - Referendum on a proposal to require citizenship for eligibility for various subsidized services such as in-state tuition and financial assistance.
It's absurd to criminalize
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 20:05 β Tom2 (not verified)It's absurd to criminalize crossing the border without permission but argue the it doesn't logically follow to also be illegal for illegal trespassers to be here. In any event, because an over-educated Kansas judge parsed the law that way, it's necessary for states to criminalize being here without permission. Legislators' inability to craft perfect laws is what keeps lawyers in business. Following the system, it makes sense for Arizona, being one of four border states, to push back and throw a little more legal business to the lawyers. No doubt the end game will be decided by another activist judge who will rule it's too harsh, it violates some civil right or another or whatever. Hopefully, this will become law and join the already-too-long queue on the steps of the SCOTUS
The fact is that we are no
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 22:15 β Anonymous (not verified)The fact is that we are no longer a nation that can take in an unlimited number of immigrants. With an unofficial unemployment rate of 20% or more we can't even provide jobs and decent living conditions for the legal citizens either by birth or immigrant status that we already have. And even discounting the criminal illegal immigrants the illegals further depress already depressed wages because of either their willingness to work off the books for below minimum wage or because of employers who are willing to take advantage and exploit their status. The bottom line is that any country has to have control of its borders or it ceases to be a country. What if you came home one day and a family had moved into your house. You being a generous person thought ok, we have room they can stay. Then the next day you come home and find a second family that has moved in with you, then a third and a fourth, ad infintum. Soon there is no room for you, no place to sleep, no groceries in pantry or the refrigerator, and you have no job because your uninvited friends have gone to work for your employer at half the wages you were being paid. That is what uncontrolled immigration is and this is our house they are moving into. That is not to say that we should never have any immigration. We should but it has to be controlled and the people we let in screened to insure they aren't criminals and that they don't carry permanent debilitating contagious diseases such as hepatitus and tuberculosis. Lastly allowing uncontrolled immigration on our border is unfair to the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions who don't live on the border, play by the rules and wait their turn for years to enter this country legally.
I think we will be filling
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 23:09 β Reason (not verified)I think we will be filling up Americas prisons with workers who are citizens of another nation. We don't have a legal way to pay anyone s to work for 23 cents an hour unless they are criminals in our country.
Is an "undocumented
Mon, 03/08/2010 - 23:54 β brother_unknown (not verified)Is an "undocumented immigrant" the same as an illegal immigrant, that is one who has broken the law in crossing into this country? Given the vast numbers of unemployed legal residents, should we employ illegals?
Henry Ford hated unions; he never quite caught on to the fact that the reason Ford's parking lot was filled with Ford cars was that he was paying all his workers enough that they could afford to by them.
Let's bring an army division home and put it to work transporting all the illegals out of this country.
Russell Pearce and Joe
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 02:47 β Robert Walters (not verified)Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio are two of the most vicious fascists in the country (Pearce used to be one of Joe's brown-shirt thugs.) And all you commenters on this thread who applaud this kind of Nazi legislation, and who want to vent about "illegal immigration" should look into your own heritage. All of us whiteys came here as illegal immigrants and stole the land from the Native Americans, conducting Israeli-style genocide and ethnic cleansing in trying to eliminate the Natives so whitey could appropriate their lands and resources. It isn't, despite protestations to the contrary, that immigrants "increase crime rates" or "take American jobs". It's racist bigotry, plain and simple -- born of fear and ignorance, and fed by nativist prejudices and the over-weening push by such as Pearce and Arpaio for more and more authoritarian control. Phoenix, Arizona, has replaced Wacko, Texas, as where God would insert the nozzle if He was going to give the world an enema! What bigoted fools!
Well good bye Arizona
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 13:42 β howie (not verified)Well good bye Arizona farming Industry. Though growing food in the desert like they do is a waste of water. I hope the people who want this are willing to see all their produce rise in price. Rich people will have to pay a lot more for house hold help. And other states are going to benefit when the Arizona farms fail because AZ will have to buy from other states.
But hey isn't every person who came to the US technically an illegal immigrant? I would ask a Native their opinion.
Its good to see Arizona
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 18:28 β Anonymous (not verified)Its good to see Arizona trying to help its poor citizens. Illegals fill up cheap housing, drive down, wages, crowd free clinics, and push up crime rates. All us Mexican-Americans who have lived here since birth would be better off.
Good Point Howie! Without
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 18:31 β Anonymous (not verified)Good Point Howie! Without the illegals, employers will have to pay farmworkers and household help above the minimum wage! Most of these workers are U.S. citizens, but we can't organize unions or demand higher wages because there are plenty of illegals around to work for cheap.
Amen, Anonymous 22:15!
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 19:51 β CounselorTroi (not verified)Amen, Anonymous 22:15! Illegal aliens are not our only problem, but they are a big, big problem. Those who won't admit this deserve to lose THEIR jobs to illegals! Or have THEIR kids' school overloaded with non-English speaking illegal alien children. And so on.
As for the ACLU, I couldn't care less what nonsense they spout about illegal immigration. Those fools are so ultra-liberal that they think merely enforcing the law is unconstitutional. There is no right to enter this country without permission. All illegal aliens should be sent home, with their families. If they want to come here, come legally or stay home.
Is the state of AZ willing
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 19:56 β Floresta (not verified)Is the state of AZ willing to raise taxes (gasp!) in order to pay for this BS???
I wonder how the for -profit Prison lobby views this matter, cha-ching, cha-ching. In any case, this manoeuver smacks of pure, unadulterated racism, which isn't surprising given that in tough times, people tend to vent their worse on those having the least.
If AZ doesn't want people from south of the border, expedient deportation should be enough...not more jails and court clogging.
Sounds like Sheriff Joe is
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 22:49 β borisjimbo (not verified)Sounds like Sheriff Joe is on another self-promotion tirade and off his meds again.
Arrest all of the ill-
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 05:46 β Curtis (not verified)Arrest all of the ill- eagles. Then farm them out to the farms with chains and let them work for their shelter and food. People that want to have domestic help could apply for prison status so they could detain some ill-eagles and put them to work appropriately. Superior Sitizens (SS) could then go around and make sure that the ill-eagles are full filling their obligations.
Can we hear from Congressman
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 19:30 β Anonymous (not verified)Can we hear from Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) on this one? Someone ought to interview him and put it in the news.
I hope all you crypto
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 20:57 β Frances in California (not verified)I hope all you crypto fascists - hell, you're not even crypto anymore - you're full on Nazis - move to Arizona to do the work the so-called "illegals" have been doing all this time. Then secede; you're also un-American. Counselor Troi, you go with them and please, drown in your own spitefulness as soon as you cross the border.