Arizona's new immigration law and how its unconstitutional

The new law recently signed by the governor of Arizona, SB 1070, makes it a state crime to violate some federal immigration statutes. While the law is extremely popular in the state, with 70 percent of Arizona voters approving of it and just 23 percent opposed, it has raised controversy. Below is a brief summary of the relevant information on illegal immigration in Arizona, followed by a short analysis of SB 1070's major provisions.

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and thus often referred to simply as Arizona SB 1070) is a legislative act in the U.S. state of Arizona that is the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in decades. It has received national and international attention and has spurred considerable controversy.

Critics of the law argue it is unconstitutional and a mandate for racial profiling, and fear it will destroy trust between Hispanic communities and law enforcement in Arizona.

Supporters say the law is needed to curb crime in the state, home to 460,000 illegal immigrants and a major corridor for drug and migrant smugglers from Mexico.

There is one more adage that says the killing of 58-year-old Robert Krentz and his dog, shot on March 27, 2010, while doing fence work on his large ranch roughly 19 miles (31 km) from the Mexican border, contributed to the passage of this round of Arizona legislation. Arizona police had no suspect in murder, but traced a set of footprints from the crime scene to the border, and the resulting speculation that the killer was an illegal alien increased support among the public for the measure.

The U.N. experts voiced concern at the "vague standards and sweeping language" of Arizona's law, saying it raised "serious doubts about the law's compatibility with relevant international human rights treaties to which the United States is a party."

The bill, with a number of changes made to it, passed the Arizona House of Representatives on April 13 by a 35-21 party-line vote. The revised measure then passed the State Senate on April 19 by a 17-11 vote that also closely followed party lines, with all but one Republican voting for the bill, ten Democrats voting against the bill, and two Democrats not voting.

During the time of the signing, there were over a thousand people at the Arizona State Capitol both in support of and opposition to the bill, and some minor civil unrest occurred. Against concerns that the measure would promote racial profiling, Brewer stated that no such behavior would be tolerated: "We must enforce the law evenly, and without regard to skin color, accent or social status." She vowed to ensure that police forces had proper training relative to the law and civil rights, and soon said she would issue an executive order requiring additional training for all officers on how to implement SB 1070 without engaging in racial profiling; the order was issued on April 23, 2010.Ultimately, she said, "We have to trust our law enforcement." Sponsor Pearce called the bill's signing "a good day for America."

The bill was criticized by President Barack Obama, who called it "misguided" and said it would "undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe." Obama did later note that the HB 2162 modification had stipulated that the law not be applied in a discriminatory fashion, but the president said there was still the possibility of suspected illegal immigrants "being harassed and arrested"

Republican politicians in nearly a dozen states including Utah, Georgia, Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska have endorsed their own state legislation on illegal immigration in the wake of Arizona SB 1070; many of these politicians hope to pass legislation that mirrors Arizona's.


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