|
Ariz. House changes, advances immigration bill
An Arizona House committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in the state. The House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee advanced the legislation on an 8-3 vote. The committee changed key provisions, but critics said the changes still leave many questions unanswered.The bill, sponsored by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, would ban soft immigration policies in police agencies and prohibit people from blocking traffic when they seek or offer day-labor services on street corners. Some 460,000 illegal immigrants live in Arizona, according to recent federal estimates. "I'm tired of those folks who simply advocate we don't enforce our laws, Pearce said. "I'm tired of those folks who ignore the damage to our nation." As originally introduced, the bill would have criminalized the presence of illegal immigrants under state law through an expansion of the trespassing statute. Under the changes adopted Wednesday, the measure would instead create the new crime of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document. It would allow officers to arrest immigrants who are unable to show documents proving they're legally in the country. But critics said the provision could cause legal immigrants and U.S. citizens to be detained. Federal law requires legal immigrants to carry identification at all times, but citizens are not required to have ID. Pearce dismissed the criticism, saying police officers routinely verify the identity of people they stop. The bill also seeks to draw local police deeper into the fight against illegal immigration by allowing people to sue police agencies if they believe the agency has a policy that restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Posted by: Fred 2010-04-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=293749 |