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AZ GOVNEROR SIGNS BILL: LOCAL POLICE ARREST MIGRANTS
Thu Mar 17, 2005 03:52
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Governor signs bill letting local police arrest migrant smugglers
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3075913
PHOENIX Later this year, local police agencies in Arizona will have the power to arrest the smugglers who sneak thousands of immigrants into the state each year.
Governor Janet Napolitano signed into a bill into law today granting that authority by creating the state crime of human smuggling.
Proponents say the power was needed because the federal government isn't doing enough to fulfill its responsibility to enforce immigration law in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the nation's southern border.
Opponents say the change won't do anything to confront the mass of problems tied illegal immigration and question whether local police can afford to crack down on smugglers.
The law doesn't provide additional money for police agencies to arrest migrant smugglers.
It also aims to confront migrants and others who are forced into labor or prostitution.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3075913
===========================================
Arizona governor signs bill letting local police arrest migrant smugglers
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2005/03/16/news/regional/3da5db59e8e0269b87256fc40060d15f.txt
PHOENIX (AP) -- Later this year, local police agencies in Arizona will have the power to arrest the smugglers who sneak thousands of immigrants into the state annually.
Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday signed a bill that grants that authority by creating the state crime of human smuggling.
Proponents say the power was needed because the federal government isn't doing enough to fulfill its responsibility to enforce immigration law in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the nation's southern border.
Republican Rep. Jonathan Paton of Tucson, one of the law's top proponents, said the change is a way to begin confronting Arizona's immigration woes.
Opponents say the change won't do anything to confront the mass of problems tied to illegal immigration, and they question whether local police can afford to crack down on smugglers.
The law, which contains no additional money for police, also aims to confront migrants and others who are forced into labor or prostitution. It takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.
More than any other state in recent years, Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants after the government tightened enforcement in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego during the mid-1990s.
Even though immigrants provide the American economy with cheap labor, Arizona and other border states shoulder huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families.
Frustrated Arizona lawmakers have proposed several bills this year to confront illegal immigration. Advocates for immigrants question whether the proposals would confront illegal immigration and say the problem is best left for Congress to resolve.
"This new state law is good complement to what state law enforcement can do," Napolitano said. "It does not serve as a substitute for our current need and our existing need to have more federal law enforcement here in Arizona."
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, whose jurisdiction includes 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, said he doesn't have the time or money to build cases against smugglers, but that he won't ignore the new law.
"We will utilize it should the occasion arise, but I don't see us going into it full steam," Estrada said. "It's just not something we can afford to do."
In the past, police generally called in federal authorities to investigate immigration cases.
Police officials in Phoenix, the nation's hub for transporting illegal workers, will review the new law to see whether policy changes are necessary, said Sgt. Randy Force, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.
"If this is classic immigration kind of stuff, that is still going to be primarily a federal responsibility," Force said.
Democratic Rep. Ben Miranda, an opponent of the idea (SB1372), said the law, while well-intentioned, isn't something that police need and that it was passed as "symbolic gratification."
"We live in an era where it's really popular to beat up an immigrant and blame him for almost everything," Miranda said. "And this is a bill that reflects the climate that exists here in the state Legislature."
On the Net:
Arizona Legislature: http://www.azleg.state.az.us
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3075913
PHOENIX Later this year, local police agencies in Arizona will have the power to arrest the smugglers who sneak thousands of immigrants into the state each year.
Governor Janet Napolitano signed into a bill into law today granting that authority by creating the state crime of human smuggling.
Proponents say the power was needed because the federal government isn't doing enough to fulfill its responsibility to enforce immigration law in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the nation's southern border.
Opponents say the change won't do anything to confront the mass of problems tied illegal immigration and question whether local police can afford to crack down on smugglers.
The law doesn't provide additional money for police agencies to arrest migrant smugglers.
It also aims to confront migrants and others who are forced into labor or prostitution.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3075913
===========================================
Arizona governor signs bill letting local police arrest migrant smugglers
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2005/03/16/news/regional/3da5db59e8e0269b87256fc40060d15f.txt
PHOENIX (AP) -- Later this year, local police agencies in Arizona will have the power to arrest the smugglers who sneak thousands of immigrants into the state annually.
Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday signed a bill that grants that authority by creating the state crime of human smuggling.
Proponents say the power was needed because the federal government isn't doing enough to fulfill its responsibility to enforce immigration law in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the nation's southern border.
Republican Rep. Jonathan Paton of Tucson, one of the law's top proponents, said the change is a way to begin confronting Arizona's immigration woes.
Opponents say the change won't do anything to confront the mass of problems tied to illegal immigration, and they question whether local police can afford to crack down on smugglers.
The law, which contains no additional money for police, also aims to confront migrants and others who are forced into labor or prostitution. It takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.
More than any other state in recent years, Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants after the government tightened enforcement in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego during the mid-1990s.
Even though immigrants provide the American economy with cheap labor, Arizona and other border states shoulder huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families.
Frustrated Arizona lawmakers have proposed several bills this year to confront illegal immigration. Advocates for immigrants question whether the proposals would confront illegal immigration and say the problem is best left for Congress to resolve.
"This new state law is good complement to what state law enforcement can do," Napolitano said. "It does not serve as a substitute for our current need and our existing need to have more federal law enforcement here in Arizona."
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, whose jurisdiction includes 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, said he doesn't have the time or money to build cases against smugglers, but that he won't ignore the new law.
"We will utilize it should the occasion arise, but I don't see us going into it full steam," Estrada said. "It's just not something we can afford to do."
In the past, police generally called in federal authorities to investigate immigration cases.
Police officials in Phoenix, the nation's hub for transporting illegal workers, will review the new law to see whether policy changes are necessary, said Sgt. Randy Force, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.
"If this is classic immigration kind of stuff, that is still going to be primarily a federal responsibility," Force said.
Democratic Rep. Ben Miranda, an opponent of the idea (SB1372), said the law, while well-intentioned, isn't something that police need and that it was passed as "symbolic gratification."
"We live in an era where it's really popular to beat up an immigrant and blame him for almost everything," Miranda said. "And this is a bill that reflects the climate that exists here in the state Legislature."
On the Net:
Arizona Legislature: http://www.azleg.state.az.us
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Thursday, 03/17/05
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