As the federal government’s lawsuit against Arizona immigration law SB 1070 continues, Americans continue to voice their support for the bold stance the Grand Canyon State has taken. The New York Daily News reports that a CNN/Opinion Research poll found that 55 percent of Americans support Arizona, while previous polls in early July by CBS News and Rasmussen indicated that 57 and 65 percent of respondents support SB 1070. With SB 1070, state officials are more capable of finding illegal immigrants, although they cannot send these immigrants out of the country. Attorney General Eric Holder with the ability to make that happen doesn’t seem like he wants it to.
Nothing can really be done with SB 1070
Police could be able to enforce illegal immigration law with SB 1070 if they feel there is “reasonable suspicion,” although nothing can be done once they are found. The Wall Street journal explains that Arizona has to determine if they want to fill up their prisons with illegal immigrants or if they would rather let it alone right now. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can be the individuals called by Arizona officials to find out if the individuals captured are legal or not. ICE’s decision on the person will probably mean an immigration judge could have to be involved. However, the federal government will not detain the individual. It could take a very long time before any kind of hearing happens.
ICE getting too numerous calls from Arizona
. SB 1070 could conceivably generate a massive influx of calls from Arizona law enforcement to ICE. The Justice Department is the only place where this could be made possible or else Arizona and ICE may have to make their own plans.
Maricopa County already began
An Arizona county decided it didn’t want to wait for the law, and then they did it all themselves with a federal-local partnership program. Since 2007, Maricopa County, reports the Associated Press, has taken credit for the “deportations of forced departure” of about 26,146 illegal immigrants. There were set officers in Maricopa County there specifically to enforce immigration law under the 287 (g) program.
Arizona allowed to enforce law with SB 1070
The 287 (g) provision is a section of the 1995 U.S. law called the Immigration and Nationality Act. SB 1070 can be much like section 287 (g) in that officers could be required to watch for illegal immigrants in the state. This would perhaps address the concerns of critics who claim that the old 287 (g) provision was poorly supervised by Homeland Security and provided insufficient training. Also, the problem with officials stopping people from being deported will lessen at the least, if not stop totally with SB 1070. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told ABC that “If they want to block my jail, I’ll put them in jail.”
What the taxpayers deserve
Considering that the cost of running federal immigration programs has grown from $ 5 million in 2006 to $ 68 million in 2010, costs are skyrocketing, reports the Journal. Many believe tax dollars can be better spent with en effective enforcement of laws instead of helping out immigrants.
Additional reading
Associated Press
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRATION_LOCAL_ENFORCEMENT?SITE=WDUN and amp;SECTION=HOME and amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
New York Daily News
nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/28/2010-07-28_arizona_immigration_law_sb_1070_has_support_of_55_of_americans_new_poll_shows.html
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703292704575393690850825662.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEForthNews
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_Section_287%28g%29
Expansion of federal fingerprinting program for illegal immigrants
youtube.com/watch?v=HEkfMccuDVI
