ImmigrationMore states weighing in on immigration debate
More states are pushing for stricter immigration enforcement laws as frustration across the country grows; Indiana, Maine, South Dakota, Colorado, and Texas are joining the ranks of states like Kentucky and Nebraska that have introduced tough Arizona-style immigration laws; at the core of the debate is the controversial provision that requires police to stop and check an individual’s papers to verify if they have entered the country illegally; this provision in the Arizona law has already been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge; last week Wyoming legislator rejected the introduction of such a bill
More and more states follow Arizona's lead // Source: masslive.com
As frustration over what is perceived as lax federal immigration enforcement grows, states are continuing to take matters into their own hands by proposing tough Arizona-style immigration laws.
Dozens of states including Kentucky and Nebraska have already introduced legislation, while several others are beginning to debate the introduction of such laws.
Legislators in Indiana, Maine, and South Dakota are moving forward with similar legislation, with each state differing in its approach. The proposed bills in Indiana, Colorado, Texas, and Maine will contain the controversial provision of requiring police to request identification from suspected individuals to verify that they entered the country legally.
In contrast the proposed law in South Dakota does not contain such a provision as it has already been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.
“The courts in Arizona have called those profiling, so I took them out,” said Republican Representative Manny Steele, who authored the bill.
Across the country, critics of the controversial provision believe that it violates civil liberties.
In Maine, Sheena Bellows, the executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said, “Arizona-style racial profiling and ‘show-me-your-papers’ tactics are un-American and unconstitutional.”
While in Texas, Cheryl Pollman, president of the National Council of Jewish Women, said, “This wholesale idea of just questioning everyone who looks differently or who has an accent or whose eyes look differently than ours is not the way to address this issue.”
Bucking the trend towards stricter enforcement laws, last week legislators in Wyoming rejected an Arizona-style immigration bill.
The bill was introduced by Republican Representative Pete Illoway, but did not make it out of committee after no representatives moved to consider it.
