Arizona Could Pay High Price for Anti-Immigrant Law
NEW YORK, Apr 26, 2010 (IPS) - U.S. immigration experts, law enforcement officials and religious leaders are hitting back at the draconian legislation signed into law in Arizona last week, charging it will subject the state to "staggering potential costs" and vowing to have the law declared unconstitutional in the courts. In one Arizona county alone, Yuma County, the sheriff estimates that law enforcement agencies would spend between 775,880 and 1,163,820 dollars in processing expenses. Jail costs would run between 21,195,600 and 96,086,720 dollars, and attorney and staff fees between 810,067 and 1,620,134 dollars. The estimates by Yuma County Sheriff Ralph E. Ogden were produced because there is no state-wide fiscal data yet available on the cost of the legislation's implementation. Sheriff Ogden's estimates were prepared for inclusion in a fact sheet produced in response to similar legislation in 2006. Yuma County is one of Arizona's 15 counties, with a population of about 200,000. The sheriff's fact sheet also shows that additional detention facilities would have to be built at unknown costs. These costs do not account for lost revenue such as tax contributions and consumer purchasing, as well as the potentially expensive lawsuits that will likely ensue. Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed the legislation after a week of rallies and protests by anti- and pro-immigration groups. The new law makes Arizona the first state in the nation to deem it a crime for a person to be an undocumented immigrant. Several legal challenges to keep the legislation from taking effect are already in the works by the Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Day Labourer Organising Network. "Arizona would have the same place in history as South Africa," said Salvador Reza, organiser for the PUENTE movement, which advocates for human rights, comparing the new law to apartheid. But the passage of the Arizona law may also have ignited new energy and resolve from the pro-immigration reform movement. President Barack Obama has criticised the Arizona bill, saying it threatens 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." He called on Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Sen. John McCain, a Republican of Arizona, has in the past been one of the champions of comprehensive immigration reform. Today, locked in a tight primary challenge from his right wing to win his party's nomination for another term, he has endorsed the new law. Arizona's other senator, Republican John Kyl, has done likewise. Known as the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighbourhood Act", the law would allow police officers to arrest a person based on "reasonable suspicion" that he or she is an undocumented immigrant. Police departments could face lawsuits by individuals who believe they are not enforcing the law. A coalition of businesses and religious leaders has warned that the impact of the new measure could severely damage Arizona's economy. The new law "is tearing our state into two. It humiliates us into the eyes of America and threatens our economic recovery," said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. State Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican from Mesa, the author of the bill, said the legislation would have the opposite effect. He believes the new legislation will lead immigrants to leave Arizona, causing the state to save money in services it currently provides to the children of undocumented immigrants at schools and hospitals. He has said that states have to take the matter into their own hands in absence of federal enforcement. The recent death of a rancher on the border connected to violence in the area gave momentum to passage of the new law. As the Arizona governor signed the bill into law, the national and Arizona faith community condemned it as "an affront to moral conscience that will divide families and communities." "The inhumane legislation demonstrates the urgent need for national political leadership to pass comprehensive immigration reform," said a coalition of a dozen leaders from evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish religions representing millions of U.S. citizens. The legislation was also condemned by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Rev. Jim Wallis, president and CEO of The Sojourners, said, "The law signed today by Arizona Gov. Brewer is a social and racial sin, and should be denounced as such by people of faith and conscience across the nation. It is not just about Arizona, but about all of us, and about what kind of country we want to be." "This law will make it illegal to love your neighbour in Arizona, and will force us to disobey Jesus and his gospel. We will not comply," he added. And Rev. Jan Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, said, "All the religious leaders of Arizona know and understand that this law will not solve the issue of crime along the border or in our state, but it will demonise anyone who looks suspiciously like an undocumented person, leading to inevitable racial profiling." "Our religious traditions ask us to treat people with dignity and respect, and we look for a more enlightened and hopeful way of working with the undocumented people who live alongside us," he added. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51197 SEE ALSO: Arizona Sheriff refuses to enforce new immigration law In Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who has been a cop for 52 years, says it will definitely lead to racial profiling. He told local TV station KGUN9 that the law is "racist," "digusting," and "unnecessary," and he won't enforce it. While the law may not explicitly mandate profiling, Dupnik said that there's no way to enforce it without doing so; the "lawful contact" provision will become nothing but a "flimsy excuse" to target certain people... http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/28/pima-arizona-sheriff/ SEE ALSO: Arizona immigration law faces multiple lawsuits -OFFICIALS in the Obama administration are urging the extraordinary stepof suing Arizona over its new immigration law, and the Justice Department is considering such an action to block the legislation from taking effect, government officials said Wednesday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042805838.html Lawsuits challenge new Arizona immigration law PHOENIX An Arizona police officer and a Latino group filed the first legal challenges of Arizona's sweeping new law cracking down on illegal immigration Thursday. Fifteen-year Tucson police veteran Martin Escobar argues there's no way for officers to confirm people's immigration status without impeding investigations. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tucson, alleges the new immigration law violates numerous constitutional rights and could hinder police investigations in Hispanic-prevalent areas. A Latino Clergy group also sued Thursday in federal court in Phoenix. The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders will seek an injunction preventing authorities from enforcing the law. The group argues federal law pre-empts state regulation of national borders, and that Arizona's law violates due process rights by letting police detain suspected illegal immigrants before they're convicted. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100429/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_enforcement SEE ALSO: Phoenix police chief opposes new immigration law (Reuters) - The police chief of Arizona's largest city said on Friday the state's controversial new crackdown on illegal immigrants would likely create more problems than it solved for local law enforcement. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T5G220100430
