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PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country, aimed at identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants. The governor’s move on Friday unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive national battle over federal immigration reform.
Even before Brewer signed the bill, President Barack Obama strongly criticized it.
Speaking at a naturalization ceremony for 24 active-duty service members in the Rose Garden, Obama called for a federal overhaul of immigration laws an overhaul congressional leaders signaled they might take up.
He said the failure of federal officials to act on immigration would open the door to “irresponsibility by others.” He said the Arizona bill threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”
The law, which both opponents and critics called the broadest and strictest immigration measure in the country, makes the failure to carry proof of citizenship or legal immigration status a crime. It also gives police broad powers to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have decried it as an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics, regardless of their citizenship status.
The political debate leading up to Brewer’s decision, and the president’s criticism of the bill underscored the power of the immigration debate. It presaged the polarizing arguments that await Obama and Congress.
Brewer said the law “represents another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix.”
The law takes effect in August. Court challenges are expected.
Hispanics railed against the law as a recipe for racial and ethnic profiling. The Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles called the authorities’ ability to demand documents Nazism.
While police demands of documents are common on subways, highways and in public places in some countries, including France, Arizona is the first state to demand that immigrants meet federal requirements to carry identity documents legitimizing their presence on American soil.
Brewer acknowledged critics’ concerns but, in the end, sided with the bill’s sponsors.
President George W. Bush had attempted comprehensive federal immigration reform but failed when his own party split on the issue. This time, Republicans facing primary challenges from the right, including Brewer and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have come under tremendous pressure to support the Arizona law.
McCain, locked in a competitive primary with a challenger campaigning on immigration, only came out in support of the law hours before the State Senate passed it Monday.
The law, sponsored by state Sen. Russell Pierce, an immigration firebrand, requires the police “when practicable” to detain people they reasonably suspect are in the country without authorization and verify their status with federal officials, unless doing so would hinder an investigation or emergency medical treatment.
It also makes it a state crime, a misdemeanor, to fail to carry proof of immigration status. It also allows people to sue local governments or agencies if they fail to enforce immigration law.
Last year, there were a record number of state immigration-related laws enacted (222) and resolutions (131) passed, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The prospect of a national immigration debate this year is gaining steam on Capitol Hill. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, said he intends to bring legislation to the floor after Memorial Day.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has been meeting with lawmakers and interest groups to draft a measure with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
But the outlook is mixed. While an immigration debate could help energize Hispanic voters and provide political benefits to some embattled Democrats seeking re-election in November including Reid it also could energize conservative voters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said in recent days that the House would be willing to take up immigration policy only if the Senate produces a bill first; otherwise they are not inclined to move ahead.
