Arizona May Criminalize Illegal Immigration

June 23, 2009

A proposal, which recently cleared the Arizona state Senate, is now being reviewed by the state’s House of Representatives. The legislation would make Arizona the first state in the country to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants through an expansion of its trespassing law. Many other states claim that the issue of illegal immigration is a problem of the federal government, and not the responsibility of the state.

However, Arizona would like to begin utilizing its law enforcement capabilities to protect the rights of its citizens. Under the new laws, sneaking into the country as a first offense would result in a top-tier misdemeanor, punishable with up to six months in jail. However, any subsequent offenses would be labeled as felonies and could result in up to 2 ½ years of jail time.

Those who support the bill say that it would not promote racial profiling, because an arresting officer would need probable cause to investigate an individual’s immigration status. However, many fear that officers who are not schooled in the complexities of immigration law would most likely approach those individuals who appeared to be of Hispanic descent, first.