Arizona Governor Signs Immigration Bill (SB 1070) into Law
Today, April 23, 2010, the Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed into law SB 1070. This law gives local police officers the same discretion as Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement agents in determining a person’s immigration status. It also requires all immigrants to carry their immigration registration documents at all times, or face misdemeanor charges for being undocumented. This law legalizes racial profiling and invokes fear in immigrant communities. As the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network, we stand with other immigrant service providers and immigrant advocates in condemning this new law which creates a category of second class citizens within the United States, a country prided on due process, opportunity, and liberty for all people.
If Arizona’s new law is any indication of the anti-immigrant sentiments around the country, President Obama along with Congress must move quickly to pass a strong, humane, and just comprehensive immigration reform bill in the coming months that will encourage our immigrant communities to contribute to United States culture and economy, and to stop other states from following Arizona’s dangerous precedent.
