Hourly Update

Immigration to occupy part of Arizona's political debate in future

PHOENIX - Once considered a black hole that few elected officials wished to enter, illegal immigration has taken a more prominent role in Arizona politics, thanks to a growing frustration that the federal government hasn't done enough to secure the country's porous southern border. The rise of illegal immigration as an issue in state politics began last year when voters easily approved a law that denies some government benefits to illegal immigrants in Arizona, the nation's busiest illegal entry point. It continued this year when the Legislature considered two dozen proposals aimed at confronting the problem and is likely to generate political heat through next year's gubernatorial election. The pressure to do something about the problem isn't coming solely from conservatives in the Republican Party who have long hammered on the theme of limiting immigration, said Bruce Merrill, an Arizona State University professor and pollster. Some regular Arizonans are concerned about border security, competition for jobs from illegal border-crossers and the social costs of illegal immigration, Merrill said. "It's more than a right-wing ideological orientation," Merrill said. Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants since the government tightened enforcement in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego during the mid-1990s. While immigrants provide the American economy with cheap labor, Arizona and other states shoulder huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families. Rejecting the long-standing argument that immigration is the sole province of the federal government, state lawmakers sought to confront the problems caused by thousands of people sneaking into the state each year from Mexico. "It's a federal responsibility, but once they cross that border, it's everybody's issue," said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the Legislature's staunchest advocate for limiting immigration. "It's our health care system, our education system, our criminal justice system, our welfare system, it's our neighborhoods, it's the destruction of our community and our culture." Of two dozen immigration proposals, two have been signed into law and another is headed to the 2006 ballot. Two others await action by Democratic Gov. Janet. Napolitano. One of the pending bills would prohibit illegal immigrants from attending adult education classes, receiving child-care assistance and having in-state tuition status at public universities. The other would bar local governments from putting taxpayer money into day labor centers that help illegal immigrants find work. Punishments for employers who get caught hiring illegal immigrants were added to both proposals but were eventually stripped away. Advocates for employer sanctions said the punishments were needed because immigrants wouldn't enter the country illegally if there weren't businesses willing to hire them. Napolitano rejected a proposal for the state to have a private prison built in Mexico to house criminal immigrants now jailed in Arizona. Proponents said it would have reduced the state's heavy costs for imprisoning immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. The governor, who has tried to get the federal government to pay the full costs of jailing criminal immigrants, said the proposal would have increased state costs for legal expenses and prisoner transportation and required an international treaty. "These bills that I have vetoed will not have one whit of an effect on illegal immigration in this state," Napolitano said. She also signed two immigration proposals, including one that creates the state crime of human smuggling. Republicans said Napolitano, who is up for re-election next year, is vulnerable because she vetoed attempts to try to fix the problem. "Gov. Napolitano has as much control over immigration as she does over the weather," said Democratic Rep. Steve Gallardo of Phoenix, a critic of this year's immigration bills. It's up to the federal government to fix the country's failed immigration policies, but ultraconservative Republicans have seized on the problem as a way to energize their supporters, Gallardo said. Advocates for immigrants said some of the legislation is well-intentioned but only symbolic, citing a new law giving local police the power to arrest migrant smugglers but without additional money to carry out the onerous duty. Ken Kimmel, deputy police chief in Sierra Vista, which sits in Arizona's illegal migration path, said he believes most police departments don't want the added authority. "I think the public is so upset with immigration in this state and all over, I think that legislators are feeling pressure to at least put laws on the books," Kimmel said.