Advocates vow changes to Ariz. immigration law

April 25, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

PHOENIX

Civil-rights advocates vowed Saturday to challenge Arizona’s tough new law targeting illegal immigration, saying it will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics despite the governor’s assurance abuses won’t be tolerated.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill that supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation’s busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico and home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.

The law requires police to question people about their immigration status — including asking for identification — if they suspect someone is in the country illegally. It’s sparked fears among legal immigrants and U.S. citizens that they’ll be hassled by police just because they look Hispanic.

Opponents of the law lingered at the state Capitol on Saturday morning. Others gathered in Tucson outside the campaign headquarters of U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat who this week called on businesses and groups looking for convention and meeting locations to boycott Arizona. Grijalva said his staff was flooded with phone calls this week, some from people threatening violent acts and shouting racial slurs.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association announced it would move its September conference from Scottsdale, Ariz., to another state.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the state Capitol on Friday shouting that the bill would lead to civil-rights abuses. But Brewer said critics were “overreacting.”

“We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act,” Brewer said after signing the law. “But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation.”

Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama called the Arizona bill “misguided” and instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it’s legal. He also said the federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level — or leave the door open to “irresponsibility by others.”

“That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe,” Obama said.

Current law in Arizona and most states doesn’t require police to ask about the immigration status of those they encounter, and many police departments prohibit officers from inquiring out of fear immigrants won’t cooperate in other investigations.

The new law makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500.