Arizona Legislature Passes Racist Immigration Bill, Advocates Urge Governor’s Veto [View All]

Advocates in the state of Arizona are streaming into Phoenix today to urge Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to veto what might be the most draconian state immigration law ever passed. The Arizona legislature yesterday voted 21 to 35 along party lines to make it a criminal offense simply to be an undocumented immigrant on Arizona soil and to require local cops to determine a person’s immigration status if there is any “reasonable suspicion” the person is undocumented. The law would essentially require police to racially profile Latinos and threatens to terrorize immigrant communities already trying to survive in what is arguably the country’s most anti-immigrant state.

The bill, which has been the target of a concerted campaign by immigrant and civil rights groups for months, expands the criminalization of immigrants. Arizona, the home of Sherrif Joe Arpaio, is already a cradle of harsh and sometimes legally suspect immigration policy that then crawls to other states. Brewer is expected to sign the bill today and if she does, immigrant communities will be face an intensified and steady siege as local police will be required to check immigration status.

"It's beyond the pale," Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network told the LA Times. "It appears to mandate racial profiling."

http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/04/arizona_legislature_passes_racist_immigration_bill_advocates_urge_governors_veto.html