The Arizona Senate passed Senate Bill 1070. It’s very controversial and I am against it becoming law. It will do nothing to help with border security and will most likely be too difficult to enforce. It’s also very possible that it is unconstitutional.
The city attorney for Phoenix has instructed the Phoenix Police Department that, if this bill becomes law, every time a civilian is stopped they will need to provide proof of citizenship as to protect the city from a racial profiling lawsuit. An Arizona driver’s license would suffice but out of state licenses may not as not all states require proof of citizenship to get a driver’s license. Basically, if you don’t live in Arizona or don’t have an AZ driver’s license, I hope you have a passport or visa showing that you’re a legal citizen if you’re pulled over while driving through Phoenix.
WTF. How does that make any sense? Read the main points of the bill below and sound off in the comments, if you wish.
Senate Bill 1070
The bill addresses a range of issues relating to illegal immigration. It would:
• Prohibit state, city or county officials from limiting or restricting “the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law” and allow an Arizona resident to sue an official or agency that adopts or implements a policy or practice that does so. The bill contains a “loser pays” provision that may deter frivolous lawsuits.
• Require law enforcement to make a reasonable attempt “when practicable” to determine the immigration status of a person if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally. Officers do not have to do so “if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.”
• Make it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant, by creating a state charge of “willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document.”
• Allow law enforcement to stop a driver if there is reasonable suspicion that the driver is in violation of human-smuggling and any civil traffic law.
• Make it a crime for illegal immigrants to work or solicit work in Arizona.
• Make it a crime to pick up a day laborer for work if the vehicle impedes traffic while doing so. Make it a crime to be picked up as a day laborer if the vehicle they get into is impeding traffic.
• Make it a crime to conceal, harbor or shield an illegal immigrant if the person knows or recklessly disregards the immigrant’s legal status. Does create a legal defense for someone providing emergency, public-safety or public-health services to illegal immigrants.
• Allow law-enforcement officials to arrest a person without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes him or her removable from the U.S.
• Require employers to keep E-Verify records of employees’ eligibility.
• Reiterate Arizona’s intent to not comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, including the use of a radio-frequency ID chip.
