No ID in Arizona? You'll get arrested.

[SirNitram]

Link

[quote]

Sen. John McCain praised a tough Arizona anti-immigration bill that will let police arrest people who aren’t carrying identification, the latest move in McCain’s rightward shift in advance of a tough Republican Senate primary this summer.

“I think it’s a very important step forward,â€

[frigidmagi]

It'll start off with "just the brown people" but it sure as hell won't stay there. This is bullshit.

[The Minx]

We may be seeing a federal challenge to the new law:


Link

Washington (CNN) -- A federal court challenge to a new Arizona law aimed at curbing illegal immigration isn't out of the question, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

Holder said that the Justice Department was working with the Department of Homeland Security to "decide exactly how we are going to react to it."

"We are considering all possibilities, including the possibility of a court challenge," Holder told reporters during questions at a news conference, at which he had announced a settlement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca over its marketing of an anti-psychotic drug.

"I think that [Arizona's] law is an unfortunate one," he said. "I think that it is, I fear, subject to potential abuse. And I'm very concerned about the wedge that it could draw between communities that law enforcement is supposed to serve and those of us in law enforcement. "

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who served as Arizona's governor until she took the position with the Obama administration, told a Senate panel Tuesday that she has "deep concerns" with the law.

Napolitano said she fears it would siphon away resources that would otherwise be used to pursue individuals who commit major crimes while in the country illegally.

"I think these kinds of laws are not value-added to law enforcement," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "There's a reason most law enforcement groups ... oppose them."

They put an "undue barrier" between victims of crime and law enforcement officials, she said.

Napolitano, who served as Arizona's governor before joining President Obama's Cabinet, refused to offer an opinion on the constitutionality of the law.

The new law requires Arizona police to determine whether people are in the United States legally if there is a reason to suspect they aren't. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed the controversial legislation into law Friday. Supporters say it is needed to control illegal immigration.

The law, scheduled to go into effect 90 days after the close of the state's legislative session, would require immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times. Currently, officers can check someone's immigration status only if that person is suspected in another crime.

Critics say the law could foster racial profiling and prompt businesses, conventions and tourists to stay away from the state.

The bill has prompted rallies by opponents and supporters, and some prominent politicians in Washington and Arizona have criticized the measure. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat, has said he'll file a lawsuit to block the law.

Last week, Obama called the legislation "misguided" and said the federal government must act on the immigration issue.

"Our failure to act responsible at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe," he said.

Napolitano told the Judiciary Committee members that the "passage of laws like [Arizona's] at the state level indicate the need to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform."

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, blamed federal authorities for undermining the push for comprehensive immigration reform by failing to more effectively secure the Mexican border.

"Our borders are broken ... [and] there's a war going on" with drug cartels in Mexico that is spilling over into the United States, he argued.

"Good people are so afraid of an out-of-control border that they had to resort to a law [in Arizona] that I think is unconstitutional," he said. The federal government has to prove "that we can secure our borders" before Congress can pass an immigration reform bill.

Over the weekend, Graham withdrew his support for what had been a bipartisan plan to pass climate change legislation because, he claimed, Democrats were trying to ram through a polarizing immigration reform bill.

Some political observers have said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, is trying to push a reform plan in order to boost his standing among Hispanic voters and bolster his re-election prospects in November.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, acknowledged Tuesday that congressional Democrats are divided over how to proceed with an immigration reform bill. He also said House members are expecting the Senate to take the lead in crafting a proposal.

"In part, of course, what the people of Arizona are saying is that the feds haven't done their job. I think they're right," he said.

But Hoyer criticized the new state law, arguing that it is "very inconsistent with past practices in America. ... We don't go around asking people for I.D. cards."

He said it is "very difficult to see how that's going to be carried out in a way that's consistent with the civil liberties of citizens."

Napolitano acknowledged that more work has to be done along the southern border, but she also expressed frustration with GOP arguments on border security. She claimed that the overall situation has improved and questioned whether the goal of "securing the border" could ever be fully reached.

Napolitano declined to provide a direct answer when asked whether the Arizona law could negatively impact race relations. But "if this law goes into effect," she warned, "there are a lot of questions about what the real impact on the street will be."

Which is good news.

And because I'm a terrible person: once again, a quote from the comment section:

It's not the American people fault for this mess, it's the Spanish people fault they find away to sneak into this country but don't anything to make themselves to become American citizen.
I hate to say this but I'm tired of making a call and press one for English, folks this is America the land of free and the America language is English.
If the Spanish people wants to live here do what’s right learn English and know your constitution and become a America citizen.
I have no problem with Spanish people becoming a American citizen but Learn to speak American English, know your constitution and become America citizen and that’s not to much to ask for.
Other people from other countries come here have to do the same why not the Spanish people

I just thought that post was so ironic I couldn't resist the temptation to share it.

[SirNitram]

Become a Citizen!

First, you pay, what was it, 8,000...

[General Havoc]

Yes, I too feel swamped by Spanish people in this country, with their Euros and their King. If we don't stop this immigration, we'll have the Portuguese emigrating too!

[The Minx]

And now for the dissenting view:


Some Hispanic Americans hope law deters illegal immigration

See an interview with an Arizona police officer who has filed a lawsuit over the state's new immigraton law on tonight's "AC 360" 10 p.m. ET

Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- Sue Schwartz says she's been called a racist so many times she doesn't mind the label anymore. If wanting immigrants to enter the country legally, like her great-grandparents from Mexico, and obey the laws of the land makes her racist, then so be it, she says firmly.

"I'm getting to the point I wear it with pride," says Schwartz, a lifelong Arizonan who has warily watched the growth of the illegal immigrant population in the state over the course of her life.

About 500,000 unauthorized immigrants were believed to live in Arizona in 2008, and 11.9 million nationwide, up from 3.5 million nationwide in 1990, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report published in 2009.

This year, the tide is finally turning in her favor, she says, with the passage of SB 1070, aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

The new law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally.

Read the full text of Senate Bill 1070 (PDF)

"I hope it makes a lot of them leave on their own, self-deportation. Hopefully that'll open up more jobs. There's a lot of people here who will do menial jobs -- maybe not pick lettuce, but these people aren't just picking lettuce any more," says Schwartz.

The new law also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them.

What will Arizona immigration law do?

Schwartz, a retired USPS worker, says undocumented workers are taking jobs from citizens like her teenage granddaughter, who hasn't been able to find a job since she began looking after she turned 15.

"She can't even work at the Hometown Buffet if she doesn't speak Spanish. How fair is that?" she said.

But Schwartz and some other Americans with Hispanic backgrounds who spoke with CNN say the problem with illegal immigrants isn't just the jobs they take. It's how they're overrunning towns like Phoenix, turning them into "mini-Mexicos" with their trash-filled streets and loud music, according to Schwartz.

Of equal concern to her friend, Martha Payan, is how she claims illegal immigrants "fleece" government coffers by collecting welfare on multiple children, or vanish without a trace after an arrest or a hospital visit.

The two women, who became acquainted through various demonstrations in the metro Phoenix area, met Thursday to discuss their views outside the Maricopa County Municipal building, as more backlash against the controversial immigration law continued to flood the city.

Latin pop star Shakira arrived in town Thursday to discuss SB 1070 with Mayor Phil Gordon, who has vowed to fight the law. This comes a day after Mexico urged its citizens not to travel to Arizona.

Sporting a white baseball cap that that reads, "100% American Citizen," Schwartz says she believes that SB 1070 came about because law enforcement in Phoenix was fed up over not being able to ask suspects about their immigration status.

"Any time an American does something wrong or breaks the law they're going to pay the consequences. Whenever an illegal does something wrong they get a new ID and become a new person," she says. "I want the laws same for everybody here, not bent for them."

The 59-year-old mother of four adult children says her Mexican parents and grandparents taught her a respect for the law at an early age. Her grandmother, who lived in Juarez, Mexico, after being kicked out of the United States for smuggling drugs, encouraged her to get a good education and speak English, her second language, outside of the home.

"If I entered another country illegally I'd go to jail, yet they're demanding better treatment than their government would give us," she says.

iReport: Share your thoughts on immigration policy

Anna Gaines, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen, says she took up the fight against illegal immigration after becoming disillusioned by the attitudes of immigrant families that she witnessed as a teacher in the Paradise Valley School District in Paradise, Arizona.

"Many of these families were having one child after another just to earn a paycheck from the U.S. government and they didn't care about their children's education," says Gaines, the controversial founder of American Citizens United, a grass-roots organization known for its extreme views on immigration enforcement. "They didn't want to contribute, just take."

Gaines, who came to the United States as a nurse on a work visa during the Vietnam War and met her current husband, says she thinks immigrants have changed over the years.

"There used to be a level of dignity and self-respect. They were hard-working people who wanted to contribute to American society because it was better than where they came from," says Gaines, a petite woman in her 70s. "But our government has been giving them handouts for so long that now they expect them."

Gaines says SB 1070 mirrors federal law on fortifying the borders, allowing local officials to enforce immigration law in a manner that the federal government should have been doing all along.

"We as Americans have the right to defend this country's laws. There's nothing racist about protecting the country," she says.

Payan, originally from Puerto Rico, hopes the law will deter future illegal immigration.

"I hope it stops trespassers and lets people know the law is the law and you cross that border illegally, it's a crime," she says.

Payan has also been called "traidora," or traitor, by neighbors in her primarily Hispanic neighborhood who know how she feels about illegal immigrants.

"They know how I feel. I don't hide my feeling," she says. "I've already had by apartment broken into and had my car hit by an illegal. What more do I have to lose?"

Of course, this is an anecdote. I wonder how much support the law really has among Latin Americans in the US.

[frigidmagi]

Likely not much, Hispanic Americans are blasted with the message that they must support illegal immigration or they're not "real" Hispanics from cradle to grave (seriously I live in Phoenix, it's pushed very hard). Even without that a number of them have family members that came over less then legally you could say and it would be difficult for them to turn on them.

Personally? I want this brought under control, we have a right to decide who gets to come into the country and who doesn't. That said, the current system encourages people to break the rules and the corporations have in many cases decided it's cheaper to pay the fines, sacrifice the occusial middle manager and keep hiring them. Until these problems are fixed... We're going to have illegals. If A then B. It is that damn simple.