Arizona has been coping with the consequences of the federal government's failure to enforce immigration laws for decades. In April, state leaders finally decided that they could no longer wait for a federal response to a chronic problem that is draining public resources and endangering the security of Arizonans.
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On April 23, Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, also known as S.B. 1070. Authored by State Senator Russell Pearce, a long-time champion of immigration enforcement, the new law is intended to deter "the unlawful entry and presence of illegal aliens and economic activity by illegal aliens in the United States." The law, which will to go into effect later this summer, declares attrition through enforcement to be the official policy of Arizona.
Drafted with the aid of FAIR's legal affiliate, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), S.B. 1070 is carefully crafted to conform to federal laws and to protect the civil rights of all legal residents and visitors to Arizona.
Among its key provisions, S.B. 1070:
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Prohibits the adoption of sanctuary policies by any jurisdiction within Arizona.
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Directs police, during lawful stops, to determine the immigration status of individuals they reasonably suspect to be illegal aliens.
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Requires non-citizens who are lawfully present to carry their documents with them at all times.
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Prohibits illegal aliens from applying for or soliciting work in public places.
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Makes it illegal to transport, harbor or encourage illegal aliens to remain in the United States.
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Allows legal residents of Arizona to sue a government agency that adopts a policy that limits the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Sound Police Work, Not Profiling
Even before Gov. Brewer affixed her signature to the bill, opponents of immigration enforcement launched a full-scale misinformation campaign about S.B. 1070. The most frequent attack against the law (which is still not in effect) is that it sanctions, or even mandates, ethnic and racial profiling. It does not. In fact, S.B. 1070 specifically prohibits police from using ethnicity or race as a basis for inquiring about immigration status.
S.B. 1070 does not allow police to randomly pull people over and inspect their documents. Inquiries into immigration status may only occur in cases in which police are making a lawful stop for some other offense. Police must then have reasonable suspicion that an individual is an illegal alien - using factors such as the lack of any government issued documents, or evasive answers to questions - before checking immigration status. Reasonable suspicion is the standard used by all police in deciding when to investigate whether other illegal activity is occurring.
Under the new law, any individual who can present a valid federal, state or locally issued identity document that requires legal presence for issuance, or a foreign passport with evidence of legal entry, such as a valid U.S. visa, must be presumed to be legally present in the country.
FAIR has been at the forefront of state and local efforts to implement policies that discourage illegal immigration. With the expert input of IRLI, we believe that S.B. 1070 will withstand legal challenges from the illegal alien advocacy network and will serve as a model for other state and local governments that, like Arizona, decide they can no longer wait for the federal government to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws.
