Wednesday, April 14, 2010

[RED DEMOCRATICA] NOTICIAS : Deseret News: Utah advocates say Arizona immigration law goes too far

 

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Utah advocates say Arizona immigration law goes too far

Published: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 8:44 p.m. MDT
 

SALT LAKE CITY — A tough, new immigration statute that's working its way toward the law books in Arizona could expose Utah travelers, and other visitors to the state, to unprecedented enforcement powers by local law officers.

 

Under the changes proposed in SB1070, which likely will be headed to the desk of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in the coming days, police officers are required to question people about their immigration status whenever there is a "reasonable suspicion" that the people are unlawfully present in the U.S.

 

Civil rights activists said the law is the toughest in the nation and will invite racial profiling.

 

What it means for Utahns traveling across their southern border into Arizona is that any traffic stop, or encounter with a local, county or state law enforcement officer, could lead to a shakedown for proof of legal presence. Tony Yapias, an advocate for immigrant rights in Utah, said the law goes too far.

 

"I think it's just an extreme approach to enforcing immigration law," Yapias said. "This is an issue that has to be dealt with at the federal level."

Yapias said he had no doubt race issues will be a part of how the new statute is enforced if it becomes law, and it will have a negative impact regardless of a person's immigration status.

 

"Just being a Latino, you're going to be targeted in Arizona," Yapias said. "The cops can stop you for almost any reason and demand documentation. That will elevate racial profiling big-time, and it won't even matter whether you're a citizen or not."

 

Yapias said he's already heard concerns from members of the Latino community in Utah and may issue cautions about travel to Arizona if the law

is enacted.

 

American Civil Liberties Union of Utah director Karen McCreary said Wednesday that the Arizona proposal "goes beyond any current law" that she's seen in the country. Her counterpart at the ACLU of Arizona, director Alessandra Soler Meetze, issued a statement Wednesday warning that some clauses in the proposal are likely unconstitutional. She noted that it will effectively require citizens to "carry their papers" at all times.

 

"Instead of working on real solutions to the immigration crisis, our legislators have devised a proposal that is full of shortcuts," Meetze said. "Contrary to what proponents of SB1070 say, the bill does not prohibit officers from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to investigate. Police untrained in the complexities of immigration law have a green light to harass anyone who looks or sounds foreign."

 

Utah statute provides for a path for some local law enforcement involvement in immigration enforcement, but only via a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and, only then, after officers have completed specialized training. Currently, only the Weber and Washington County sheriffs departments have participated in that program.

 

Utah Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace, long has been involved in immigration legislation in the state and co-chaired a 2008 interim study committee that focused on solutions to immigration issues. The committee's work preceded implementation of sweeping immigration legislation that took effect last July. On Wednesday, Dee said he hadn't seen the language of the Arizona statute, but he thought the voluntary aspect of Utah law was working.

 

"I think the voluntary program has been a very effective approach," Dee said. "It's been a great tool for us."

 

Dee said that he understood the frustration being felt by states like Arizona with the lack of movement at the federal level on improving immigration enforcement and that, lacking substantive change, those states are running out of options.

 

"Illegal immigration is something we must deal with, because it's becoming an ever-increasing problem," Dee said. "If we fail to deal with it, it will eat us up and end up costing not millions, but billions."

 

While reform of federal immigration laws has yet to take place, some movement on the issue has been promised by the administration of President Barack Obama. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, overseen by former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, told the Deseret News Wednesday that changes made within the department under the new administration have made a difference.

 

"DHS continues to focus on smart, effective immigration enforcement that places priority on those dangerous criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, on employers who continue to drive illegal immigration by knowingly hiring undocumented workers, and by surging law enforcement resources at the Southwest border," said DHS spokesman Matt Chandler. "Criminal deportations have increased by 19 percent between FY2008 and FY2009, and ICE has removed 37 percent more convicted criminal aliens in FY2010 to date compared to the same period last year.

 

"DHS has replaced old policies that merely looked tough with new policies that remove convicted criminals and make our streets safer."

 

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com

© 2010 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

 
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