Arizona's Immigration law: SB 1070 & HB 2162

[LWM]

Thursday, May. 20, 2010


Panel to meet on immigration
Bill won't have time to pass


By Noelle Phillips - McClatchy Newspapers

A state Senate subcommittee meets this morning to discuss a bill that would empower local police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or detain.

However, it's too late in the legislative session for the bill, which mimics Arizona's controversial law, to become state law this year. That leads critics and political watchers to believe today's meeting is more about political theater than creating a new law.

"By doing it when they don't actually have time to pass the legislation, they get credit for the symbolic stand without having to worry about how to fund the measure," said Scott Huffman, a Winthrop University political science professor.


However, Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, who will lead this morning's meeting, said that is not the case. None of the five members of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee are up for re-election, he said.

"We are not playing to anybody," he said. "It's not a pandering-type thing."

Instead, he said, the hearing's purpose is to find out if legislators need to "tweak" South Carolina's immigration law that was passed in 2008 and to compare Arizona's law to it.

The Senate bill would allow state and local police to check immigration status after detaining or arresting a person for another reason. The officer would need reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

People questioned would have to provide identification issued by the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, a tribal enrollment card or an ID issued by the U.S. government. The bill also includes a provision that would outlaw the hiring of illegal immigrants for day labor.

The Senate bill has 19 sponsors, including Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston.

A similar bill was filed in the S.C. House in late April, but no hearings on it have been scheduled.

Both are drawing criticism from the state's Hispanic community.

"They're, of course, going to target Mexicans," said Ivan Segura, a member of the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council. "They're, of course, going to target Central Americans. They're going to target people because of the color of their skin."

Martin said South Carolina should tread cautiously in its consideration of the bill, especially since Arizona's law is being challenged in court.

"I don't want to get our state entangled in a legal matter," he said.

Martin agreed it was too late to move the bill forward this year.

[LWM]

May 2, 2010

Obama Warns Political Speech Can Lead to Violence
Posted by: Mike's America @ 8:42 am in Uncategorized | 526 views

Will he take responsibility for false claims made about Arizona immigration law after Sheriff’s Deputy was shot by illegal aliens?

Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan on Saturday. His speech had more straw man arguments than there were graduates. Apparently, if you oppose his policies you are anti-democratic and seeking to overthrow the legitimate government as defined by him.

In the middle of a long lecture on why strong opposition prevents you from realizing he knows what is best for you and blocks “compromise” (as if he has ever supported real compromise) he dropped the “v” word. Apparently, vocal opposition to his policies “coarsens our culture, and at its worst, it can send signals to the most extreme elements of our society that perhaps violence is a justifiable response.”

After eight years of an unrelenting hate campaign directed by President George Bush by top Democrat leaders it’s astonishing to hear Obama demand that now people must watch what they say.

Did Obama’s words lead to violence in Arizona?

But we don’t have to go back to the Bush years to see the hypocrisy in Obama’s speech. Only last week Obama told a crowd in Iowa that the new Arizona immigration law would mean that “Now, suddenly, if you don’t have your papers, and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to get harassed ”


Not you might get harassed but YOU ARE going to get harassed by law enforcement. Clearly the man has a chip on his shoulder about law enforcement but let’s put that aside for a moment. Obama’s words were delivered at a time when a rioting mob protesting the Arizona law pelted law enforcement officers in Phoenix with bottles and threatened the safety of a man who supported the law.

Two days after Obama spoke those words, an Arizona Sheriff’s Deputy was shot in the stomach with an AK-47 wielded by a gang of illegal aliens in the Arizona desert. The Deputy was there to investigate drug smuggling. 17 illegals were later caught in the desert including three who may have been involved in the shooting. I suppose Obama will call that police harassment.

Nowhere does Obama take responsibility for his overheated rhetoric which is meant to whip his supporters into an angry frenzy in advance of November’s election. Nowhere in his speech does he suggest that maybe he or his supporters should tone down the angry rhetoric which has become an almost daily feature of Democrat politics.

This kind of lopsided demand for civility leaves us with only one conclusion: Obama is willing to demonize opposition on the right, including false claims about their motives, while actively fanning the flames of anger and hate on the left.

And from what we have seen thus far, we can only expect him to increase this campaign of lies and hate as November approaches. Even if it leads to violence, it serves his cause!

[LWM]

Utah to follow Arizona immigration law?by Associated Press (May 27th, 2010 @ 11:18am)

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says he will sign an immigration bill into law next session if he's still governor, although it is unclear how closely that bill might mirror one in Arizona that's considered the toughest in the nation.

The Arizona law requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is ``reasonable suspicion'' that they're in the country illegally.

Reasonable suspicion is not defined. The law also makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and for illegal immigrants to solicit work.

Herbert told reporters Thursday during his monthly KUED news conference that he favors punishing businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

[LWM]

SB 1070 supporters rally in Tempeby Associated Press (May 29th, 2010 @ 7:32pm)

TEMPE, Ariz. — Thousands of supporters of Arizona's tough new crackdown on illegal immigration are rallying at a baseball stadium outside Phoenix.

The Stand With Arizona rally asks people from around the country to support the state's law in the face of a backlash from opponents including civil rights groups and President Barack Obama.

Supporters are encouraging like-minded Americans to "buycott" Arizona by planning vacations in the state.

Most of Tempe Diablo Stadium's more than 7,000 seats were full Saturday, and hundreds more people milled in the back or sat on the infield

[LWM]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles County on Tuesday became the latest government body to boycott Arizona to protest the state's tough new law targeting illegal immigration. After a heated debate, the county's board of supervisors voted 3-2 to ban new contracts with Arizona-based companies and review those that could be canceled. The county has more than $26 million in contracts with Arizona companies this year. Several California cities, including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, have passed similar measures. The Arizona law, set to go into effect July 29, requires police enforcing another law to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. Supervisor Gloria Molina said law "goes too far." "I am sworn as an L.A. County supervisor to uphold the Constitution. All I can say is that I believe that Arizona's law is unconstitutional," she said. U.S. Justice Department officials have drafted a legal challenge asserting that Arizona's law is unconstitutional because it intrudes on the federal government's authority to guard the nation's borders. Critics of the law also say it unfairly targets Hispanics and could lead to racial profiling. Proponents insist racial profiling will not be tolerated. Dozens of people spoke on both sides of the issue Tuesday, trying to sway Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was the last to announce his position and finally voted yes. "We need solutions, not boycotts," said Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who voted against the motion along with Supervisor Don Knabe. The boycott also calls the county's pension fund to rid itself of any investments in Arizona's state and municipal bonds. The county does have investment that would be affected by the boycott, said the county's treasurer, Mark Saladino. A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday found that about three-fourths of voters in the U.S. think boycotting Arizona because of its immigration law is a bad idea. The national survey of 1,914 registered voters also found that most support the law itself, with 51 percent of voters approving of the measure and 31 percent disapproving. The poll, conducted May 19-24, had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

[LWM]

Letter to LA: Boycott in the dark

PHOENIX -- Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce has suggested that if Los Angeles pursues a boycott of Arizona over its immigration law, Arizona could retaliate by taking back some of the electricity it generates for southern California.

In a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Perce said he was "dismayed" by the vote of the Los Angeles City Council to boycott Arizona.

Pierce quoted from a Villaraigosa statement that the goal of the boycott was "to impact the economy of Arizona. Our intent is to use our dollars or the withholding of our dollars -- to send a message."

Pierce said that approximately 25 percent of the electricity consumed in Los Angeles is generated by power plants in Arizona.

"If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements, so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation," Pierce wrote to Villaraigosa. "I am confident that Arizona's utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona's economy."

Pierce said that people of good will can disagree over the merits of SB1070, the Arizona law, but, "A statewide economic boycott of Arizona is not a message sent in goodwill."

The Arizona Corporation Commission regulates utilities, including the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix, the nation's largest nuclear plant. Southern California Edison Co. owns 15.8 percent of Palo Verde, the Southern California Public Power Authority 5.9 percent and the City of Los Angeles 8.7 percent.

Los Angeles gets about 6 percent of its electricity from hydroelectric power, most of that generated by Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border. It also gets power from some coal-fired plants in Arizona.

The new Arizona law, which has spawned controversy across the nation, requires local law enforcement officers to question the immigration status of anyone they stop for another reason and then have reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States illegally.

[LWM]

LA County to boycott Arizona
by Associated Press (June 1st, 2010 @ 5:23pm)

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County is joining in the economic boycott against Arizona to protest the state's new law targeting illegal immigration.

After a heated debate, the county board of supervisors voted 3-to-2 Tuesday to ban new contracts with Arizona-based companies and review those that could be canceled. The county has more than $26 million in contracts with Arizona companies this year.

Other California cities, including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, have passed similar measures.

The Arizona law requires police enforcing another law to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina says law ``goes too far.''

[cico7]

Ok, Ask everyone if they are here legally. That would eliminate profiling.

The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a ``reasonable suspicion'' they're in the country illegally.

Wait. Define "The law generally requires... ". Either the law requires it, or the law does not
require it.

Does the law allow or require the LEO to ask the question?

[LWM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRjLX1O5Ln8

[LWM]

Does the law allow or require the LEO to ask the question?

The law reads... "where reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien and is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when particable, to determine the immigration status of the person."