Arizona Republic: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer today signed into law an immigration bill that gives the state toughest law in the nation, making it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requiring local police to enforce federal immigration laws.
Brewer said she signed the bill in response to "the crisis the federal government has refused to fix.'' […]
The new immigration law will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card, or other proof of citizenship such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, thus impeding traffic, would also be committing a criminal act.[…]
"I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in Arizona," she said.
To assure that doesn't happen, Brewer also issued an executive order that the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board immediately develop a training program to teach law enforcement how to "appropriately implement SenateBill 1070."
"This will include what does and does not constitute reasonable suspicion," she said. [MORE]
Kudos to Brewer, something had to be done. Violence from Mexico was spilling into Arizona and something had to be done. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have refused to address the immigration issue with common sense. Both parties are more concerned with the political ramifications than the safety of the American citizen. Any government’s first legitimate role is the safety of its citizens and nothing should supercede that priority.
At first I was a little leery of the bill. Giving the police the authority to check people if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that they are illegal, sounded like too much authority for the police. However after reading the bill and Governor Brewer’s request that “reasonable suspicion” be define, I think this bill will do the trick.
Obama’s earlier statement about this being irresponsible is simply absurd. The only thing irresponsible is that the federal government has not secured our southern border as tight as humanly possible. The idea that you must deal with the both border security and the illegal aliens at the same time is false. Lock down the border first, then can take your time and figure out what to do with the illegal aliens. While you are figuring that out, begin searching for and then immediately deporting the troublemakers.
I think this law is going to work. Unfortunately, it may work too well and create a new hot spot in another border state. As illegal aliens flee Arizona they will simply move to the next weakest link along our border, then look for other border states to adopt similar legislation.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Arizona Republic
Via: Hot Air