John Kavanagh - May. 8, 2010 12:00 AM
Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, has generated a large amount of controversy, much of it due to a misunderstanding of its provisions. As a co-sponsor, I would like to set the record straight.
SB 1070 is a comprehensive anti-illegal immigration law designed to "crack down" on illegal immigration and all the harm it causes Arizona in crime and backbreaking public expenses to incarcerate, educate, medically treat and provide other services to illegal immigrants and their children.
The most frequent criticism of SB 1070 is it will empower police to challenge the legal presence of all Hispanics, legal and illegal, based solely upon their appearance. This is untrue.
SB 1070 only directs police officers to question someone when they have "reasonable suspicion" to believe that the person is in the U.S. illegally and even then only after being stopped for breaking another law. This provision merely extends a half-century-old U.S. Supreme Court-created tool called "stop and question" to immigration offenses. To prevent racial profiling, the law states that in constructing "reasonable suspicion," police officers "may not consider race, color or national origin."
Based upon input from police chiefs and detectives, changes were made to SB 1070 to correct other potential problems.
Police officers are only required to make "reasonable" legal presence inquiries "when practicable," so that officers will be free to prioritize their time. No officer will have to question an immigration suspect while a bank is being robbed.
Likewise, no questioning is required when it would "hinder or obstruct an investigation." Crime victims and witnesses would never be questioned because questioning is limited only to those who have violated some law.
Another argument made against SB 1070 is that it illegally pre-empts federal immigration law. We are not preempting federal law - we are incorporating and enforcing it. If anybody is preempting federal law, it's the municipalities that have instituted "sanctuary city" policies that prohibit their police officers from even reporting illegal immigrants to federal authorities. SB 1070 prohibits sanctuary city policies within Arizona.
Nor does the new law require residents to carry identification papers. This mistaken belief stems from a provision in the law that creates a presumption of legal presence if a person presents specified forms of government-issued identification. As with all law, the burden of proof rests upon the police officer. If the officer's questioning does not elevate the information level from reasonable suspicion to probable cause, the suspect walks.
Failing to present identification papers is not grounds to arrest, unless the suspect admits to non-citizen status, because federal law requires the carrying of such documents by non-citizens.
The bottom line is that the Bush administration dropped the ball on border security and internal immigration enforcement, whereas the Obama administration cannot even find it.
The primary responsibility of government is to protect its citizens, and illegal immigration poses a growing threat to safety. Until such time as the federal government secures the border and adequately enforces immigration laws internally, Arizona will have no choice but to protect its citizens.
2 comments:
Viva Los Suns!
My son called me from college in Chicago to tell me that the text of the bill is not nearly as bad as is represented in the national media. I'm sure he is correct. So, if over 80% of Arizona's hispanics are opposed to the new law, then the state has a PR problem the size of -- the Grand Canyon??
Post a Comment