Posted on 04/18/2006 10:18:22 AM PDT by BradtotheBone
Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona, citing opposition from police agencies that want immigration arrests to remain the responsibility of the federal government.
The proposal would have expanded the state's trespassing law to let local authorities arrest illegal immigrants anywhere in Arizona, the nation's busiest illegal entry point. Congress also had considered criminalizing the presence of illegal immigrants in the country.
In a letter to lawmakers, Napolitano said she opposes automatically turning all immigrants who sneaked into the state into criminals and that the bill provided no funding for the new duties.
"It is unfortunate that the Legislature has once again ignored the officials who are most directly affected by illegal immigration and instead has passed yet another bill that will have no effect on the problem but that will impose an unfunded burden on law enforcement," Napolitano wrote Monday.
Supporters said the bill would have given Arizona a chance to get a handle on its vast border problems by providing a second layer of enforcement to catch the tens of thousands of immigrants who slip past federal agents each year.
Republican Sen. Barbara Leff of Paradise Valley, who proposed the bill, said the governor has painted herself as tough on illegal immigration by declaring a state of emergency at Arizona's border, but has taken little action to back up her rhetoric.
"I don't think the governor wants to do anything about this problem," Leff said. She said the bill would have been a means to detain illegal immigrants until federal agents can pick them up.
The Democratic governor, accused by her Republican critics of being soft on immigration, has vetoed other immigration bills from the GOP- majority Legislature within the past year, including a proposal to give police the power to enforce federal immigration laws.
While immigrants provide the economy with cheap labor, Arizona spends tens of millions of dollars each year in health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families. An estimated 500,000 of the state's population of about 6 million are illegal immigrants.
stupid twit......
Well, she talked a good game. Now that we're down to the nut-cuttin', she's on the 20% side of an 80% issue. Nice day's work, Janet.
Beware of those talking tough about the borders...
Are the Repubs too scared to propose a bill that punishes businesses?
Override possible?
So, she declares a border emergency, then refuses to enforce the law. great job.
It's a FEDERAL law!!!!
Nothing from this dimwit surprises me. After all she is McCain's righthand man.
I hope Joe Arpaio runs against here and beats her.
and oh, sorry about the spelling in my previous post.
Make them felons? Heaven forbid! That would then make them ineligible to vote. And that was the whole point of allowing this illegal flow of folks into this country. We never cared if they could fit into society. We just want their vote...
"The proposal would have expanded the state's trespassing law to let local authorities arrest illegal immigrants anywhere in Arizona.........."
No he has already said he is not... he wants to keep being Sheriff... I think at this point Don Goldwater is our best shot at knocking her out.
You mean we don't have any laws against hiring illegal immigrants?
e never cared if they could fit into society. We just want their vote..."
I thought we wanted cheap labor.
Another useless Democrat Politician. All tough talk but no action. Same as the Democrats on the National Level. Always the slogans, never the solutions from the Dems
Apparently the punishment isn't strict enough.
Good ol Sheriff Joe said he's going to arrest them anyway - regardless of the the twit says.
Apparently the laws aren't enforced. So if we don't enforce the laws we have, we just make new laws and hope maybe they will be enforced? LOL
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