Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Immigration rights groups 'horrified' by new Arizona law

It's arguably the toughest measure in the country against undocumented immigrants. A new bill passed by the Arizona House makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant in that state. It also permits local police to determine whether people are in the country legally.

According to a Los Angeles Times report: "Immigrant rights groups were horrified, and contended that Arizona had just been transformed into a police state."

The measure would create the new crime of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document. It would allow officers to arrest immigrants who are unable to show documents proving they're legally in the country. Read more

2 comments:

Alina Popescu said...

Wow, sounds scary! I guess the biggest fear now would be losing your documents and seeing a police officer on the street...

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Alina: A lot of people will agree with you. Even some sectors of law enforcement have voiced fears that this law could harm relations between police and the immigrant community.

Proponents of the measure say that police can only ask about an individual's immigration status if they are suspected of involvement in another crime. Critics say the laws are unconstitutional and promised to challenge the new legislation in court.

Stay tuned.