Controversy continues to rage in Arizona and around the country in the wake of passage by the Arizona House of Representatives of a measure that both supporters and opponents agree will be the toughest immigration enforcement law in the country.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano waded gingerly into the controversy on Wednesday, April 14, when she commented on the Arizona bill in response to a question posed to her by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The Secretary said that she at least twice vetoed similar legislation when she was Governor of Arizona, and stating that the federal government was the proper level at which such matters should be addressed. The Secretary also said that measures like the Arizona bill do "not allow law enforcement to focus on where law enforcement needs to focus and to prioritize the way law enforcement needs to priioritize for the protection of safety."
Secretary Napolitano's comments on the Wednesday, April 14, 2010 "Rachel Maddow Show" can be seen by clicking the play button below:
Former Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Chris Newman of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network both addressed the Arizona bill on the Wednesday, April 14, 2010, edition of MSNBC's "The Ed Show." Representative Tancredo defended the measure and Mr. Newman expressed opposition to it.
The piece on the April 14, 2010 edition of "The Ed Show" can be seen by clicking the play button below:
The Arizona House acted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, passing the measure by a vote of 35-21. All 35 of the Arizona House's Republicans voted in favor of the bill. All of the no votes came from the Democratic side of the aisle. Tuesday's House action brings the bill one step away from becoming law; the Arizona Senate passed a similar bill earlier in the year, and it is expected to give its approval to the changes that were made to the measure in the Arizona House.
As passed by the Arizona House of Representatives, S.B. 1070 would make it a crime for an undocumented alien to be present in the state of Arizona; require permanent residents to always have their immigration papers on them; require law enforcement officers who have a "reasonable suspicion" that someone is an illegal immigrant to determine that person's immigration status "when practicable; permit persons to be detained on suspicion that they are in the country illegally; make it illegal to solicit work as a day laborer or to hire day laborers; make it illegal to transport a person who is in the country illegally; prevent any government agency from formulating policies to prevent enforcement of immigration laws; and permit citizens to sue if they believe a law enforcement agency is failing to enforce the immigration law."
The Senate has already passd a slightly different version of S.B. 1070. It is expected to act within the next week on the version of the measure that the House passed on April 13. Once the Senate acts on the measure, it will be presented to Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ) for her consideration. By all accounts, she is expected to sign the measure into law.
Click the play buttons below to see local news reports that ran on the evening of the bill's passage:
