ACLU of Arizona Condemns Passage of Immigration Enforcement Bill

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CONTACT: media@aclu.org

PHOENIX – Following a vote in the House of Representatives to dramatically expand police powers to stop, question and detain individuals for not having proper identification, the American Civil Liberties Union today condemned the passage of SB 1070.

“From business groups, faith leaders, and privacy advocates to municipal governments, police chiefs and prosecutors, Arizonans from all walks of life came forward to oppose the bill,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona. “We are extremely disappointed that House members chose to ignore the serious concerns they raised in favor of political expediency. History has taught us time after time that it does not pay to trade in our basic liberties for fear mongering. Arizona will unfortunately have to learn that lesson again.”

The bill requires police agencies across the state to investigate the immigration status of every person they come across whom they have “reasonable suspicion” to believe is in the country unlawfully. To avoid arrest, citizens will effectively have to carry “their papers” at all times. It also attempts to make it a state crime to violate the federal laws on registering with the Department of Homeland Security and carrying registration documents, curtails the free speech rights of day laborers, and encourages unchecked information sharing between government agencies. The bill will likely be transmitted to the Governor in the coming week after a vote on the Senate floor to reconcile the House version with a prior version that passed out of the Senate in February.

“Instead of working on real solutions to the immigration crisis, our legislators have devised a proposal that is full of shortcuts,” added Meetze. “Contrary to what proponents of SB1070 say, the bill does not prohibit officers from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to investigate. Police untrained in the complexities of immigration law will have a green light to harass anyone who looks or sounds foreign.”

The ACLU said that the provision that makes it a state crime to violate federal registration laws will likely be found unconstitutional. The Supremacy Clause gives the federal government exclusive power to regulate our borders, and with very few exceptions, states are not free to create their own laws regulating immigration.

Similar attempts by other localities to create their own immigration laws have been repeatedly struck down by the courts. Just last month, a federal court in Texas permanently enjoined the City of Farmer’s Branch from implementing a housing ordinance prohibiting rentals to undocumented immigrants. This was the City’s third attempt at drafting such an ordinance, a failed experiment that has cost residents about$3.2 million in legal fees to defend. Other ordinances have been overturned in Riverside, NJ, Valley Park, MO, and Hazelton, PA.

“This bill is so far-reaching that many U.S. citizens, Native Americans, and lawful residents will predictably be swept up in its application,” said Dan Pochoda, Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona. “The enforcement provisions rewrite the Constitution by turning the presumption of innocence on its head. When the community loses trust in law enforcement, we all pay.”

The ACLU of Arizona’s updated analysis on the bill that passed the House yesterday is attached in .pdf format, along with written testimony submitted earlier during the legislative session. These materials will be available under the “legislature” section of the ACLU of Arizona Web site at: www.acluaz.org