Police Chiefs Tell Holder: Arizona Law a Bad Move
CBS/iStockphoto
Nine police chiefs from across the country met with Attorney General Eric Holder today to express their concerns about Arizona's controversial new immigration law, telling the attorney general that such a law could actually increase crime and impede police forces.
The Arizona measure, which was signed into law last month and goes into effect in July, requires immigrants in Arizona to carry documents verifying their immigration status. It also requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status during a "lawful stop" if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be in the country illegally.
"Our responsibility is to enforce criminal law, not civil laws," said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank, CBS News Producer Stephanie Lambidakis reports. "We could enforce IRS regulations, but the question is do you want local law enforcement to take the lead role in federal immigration enforcement. What we're saying is, we feel it's going to divert our resources away from things we're supposed to be doing -- that is fighting crime and providing for the safety of local communities."
As citizens grow impatient with Washington's lack of action on federal immigration reform, lawmakers from a number of other states are considering adopting laws similar to Arizona's. In a CBS News poll released yesterday, 52 percent of Americans said the Arizona law was "about right" in its approach to illegal immigration.
However, opponents of the law, including the Obama administration, say it could lead to racial profiling and inappropriately puts the state in charge of a federal issue. President Obama has directed the Justice Department to review the constitutionality of the measure, but Holder gave no indication today of whether or not he will challenge it, Lambidakis reports.
Some police organizations, such as the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association and the Arizona Police Association, support the Arizona law. The police chiefs who met with Holder today, however, agree with President Obama that the law is "misguided."
"Laws like this are put forward as a public safety issue, but they are not a public safety solution," said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. "These laws will actually increase crime, not decrease crime. Witnesses won't come forward. And they break down the trust we've been building for decades. On many levels, these laws don't work."
In an example of how he believes the law could break down trust within a community and impede police work, Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said that immigrants could be too afraid to call 911 for a child abuse situation for fear of being interrogated about their immigration status.
"We know for a fact that those people won't [call], and it will start from there," he said.
John Harris, police chief for Sahuarita, Ariz., said the law puts officers in the middle of a divisive issue.
"One side said we're going to be racial profiling, and then people who don't think we're doing enough," he said.
The law enables citizens to sue their local law enforcement agencies if they feel the law is not being enforced.
Meanwhile, some municipalities in Arizona, including Flagstaff and Tuscon, are suing the state over the law. Multiple cities in other states are moving to cut off their economic ties with Arizona in protest.
The president, who has said he wants a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, is planning to send up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in the wake of complaints about security there.
Tucson Chief of Police Roberto Villasenor, also in attendance in today's meeting with Holder, said that he hasn't heard the details of the plan, but that any support at the border is helpful.
The Phoenix police chief was also scheduled to attend today's meeting, but he returned to Arizona because one of his officers was killed, Lambidakis reports.
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This is what it actually says on page 2 section j of SB1070 ..... "This section shall be implemented in a manner consistent with federal laws regulating immigration, protecting the civil rights of all persons and respecting the priviliges and immunities of United States citizens"
These are quotes from a write up done by "the center for immigration studies" (link for entire write up below):
The new Arizona law mirrors federal law, which already requires aliens (non-citizens) to register and carry their documents with them (8 USC 1304(e) and 8 USC 1306(a)). The new Arizona law simply states that violating federal immigration law is now a state crime as well. Because illegal immigrants are by definition in violation of federal immigration laws, they can now be arrested by local law enforcement in Arizona.
The law is designed to avoid the legal pitfall of ?pre-emption,? which means a state can?t adopt laws that conflict with federal laws. By making what is a federal violation also a state violation, the Arizona law avoids this problem.
The law only allows police to ask about immigration status in the normal course of ?lawful contact? with a person, such as a traffic stop or if they have committed a crime.
When Arizona?s governor signed the new law, she also issued an executive order requiring the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board to provide local police with additional training on what does and what does not constitute ?reasonable suspicion.
http://www.cis.org/announcement/AZ-immigration-SB1070
Also, a professor of law at the university of houston law school wrote an article that appeared in the Houston Chronicle, titled "Opposition to Arizona law often based on faulty facts" .... here's the link for that as well:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7015240.html
I believe this is more an issue of legal vs. illegal immigration, there's been a process set up to enter legally and many millions have chosen this path over the yrs, we're a nation made up of immigrants from all over the world .... however, IMO some are choosing to spin and make a racial issue of this, in order to take the focus away and avoid the real issue of legal vs. illegal immigration.
I happen to be for legal immigration .... NOT illegal immigration
Arizona is who decides if Arizona law is "bad move" not police chiefs from the accross the country.....A state is entitled to write a law, that they require to deal with THEIR situation....hopefully, in NY they will write laws to deal with illegal invaders, such as Russian, Chinese and Hispanic illegal immigrants.
Once they do, they might change their minds. ...Arizonians too.
Also, don't forget that the SCOTUS gets a say in whether the law is a "bad move" too.
Also, don't forget that the SCOTUS gets a say in whether the law is a "bad move" too.
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Actually, you mentioned the ONLY group that has any say about the law....not nine chiefs, not Obama and his henchmen, not the Mexican President....the legislators of Arizona, the voters of AZ, and the Supreme Court are the only people, who have any real say in the matter.
I'm hoping you have supported a boycott of Mexico, with their racist immigration laws, that would make this law, look like nothing.
Do you think it's ok for Mexico to wage a tourism war with America ? and threaten us ? do they really want to go there ? We can play that boycott of Mexico game too, and hard
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/24/arizona-sheriff-calls-apology-threatening-mexican-tourism-ad/?test=latestnews
Reminds me of those doctors in the rose garden that agreed with Obama...
Reminds me of those doctors in the rose garden that agreed with Obama...
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except these Chiefs, they didn't need to put fake uniforms on them, to put on a show....LOL
Does this administration think everyone is stupid ? why would doctors visit the white house, wearing hospital coats ? then again, he got voted in, so we (they) must be dumb.