PHOENIX – Two days after a big immigration march in Phoenix, the Arizona Legislature approved legislation yesterday to make illegal immigrants subject to the state's criminal-trespassing law.
The Senate approved the bill on a 17-12 vote and the House followed with a 33-27 vote, with both Republican-led chambers voting nearly along party lines.
Supporters of the bill contend that it would provide “a second line of defense” behind the Border Patrol by enabling state and local law enforcement officers to arrest illegal immigrants who now are often released.
“This is a tool that law enforcement will use in a case-by-case basis,” state Sen. Chuck Gray said. “I do not envision large roundups.”
Another supporter, Republican Rep. Russell Pearce, said enactment of the measure might encourage illegal immigrants to leave or avoid Arizona, currently the busiest entry point along the U.S.-Mexico border. “Many of those folks will self-deport,” Pearce said.
The bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. She declined yesterday to say what she will do with it, but her office later released letters from 12 law enforcement groups and officials, including sheriffs in three border counties, urging her to veto the bill.
The bill “represents an enormous unfunded obligation for state, county and local law enforcement,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada wrote.
Napolitano, who is running for re-election this year, vetoed a bill last year that would have given local and state law enforcement the ability to enforce federal immigration laws.
