Give Me Liberty

The Actual Bill:

Follow this link to read the actual text of Arizona Senate Bill 1070. As you read the bill, keep in mind that only the blue text is new law, and all the other text is current law in AZ. Here is a section by section break down of my interpretation of the bill:

My Interpretation of the Bill

Section 1

The intent of the bill is to enforce Federal Immigration Laws and keep people from illegally entering the state and create incentive for people who are not in the state legally to leave.

Section 2

• A. No government entity in AZ may limit or restrict Federal Immigration Laws.
• B. When lawful contact is made a law enforcement and government agencies shall attempt to determine the immigration status of a person if there is a reasonable suspicion they are in the US unlawfully; the operative words in this section are: lawful contact, reasonable suspicion, reasonable attempt, and when practicable.
• C. Upon being discharged from imprisonment or after assessment of a fine any unlawfully present alien shall be turned over to federal officials.
• D. Law enforcement may transfer unlawfully present aliens to federal officials outside jurisdiction of law enforcement agency.
• E. With probable cause, law enforcement may arrest a person if the person is believed to have committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the US.
• F. Where not prohibited by federal law, AZ officials and agencies may send, receive, and maintain records relating to the immigration status of an individual for the following purposes:
1. Determining eligibility for any public benefit, service, or license
2. Verifying residence or domicile when required to do so pursuant to a civil or criminal proceeding
3. Confirming identity of any person who is detained
4. Determining compliance with federal registration laws in the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act
• G. A person may bring an action against any official or agency in the state for adopting policies that limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws
• H. Fines collected under section G shall be deposited in The Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission Fund
• I. The agency of a law enforcement officer acting in good faith will cover all costs of any action, suit, or proceeding, pursuant to this section, that is brought against that officer.
• J. Section 2 may not violate federal laws regulating immigration, protecting civil rights, and respecting privileges and immunities of US citizens.

Section 3

• A. You are trespassing if you violate federal law OR if you are present in Arizona and violating 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1304(e) OR 1306(a).
• B. Final determination of immigration status must be made directly or indirectly by the authority of the Federal Government
• C. Sentencing under Section 3 may not be suspended or commuted.
• D. Additional fines imposed for violating the laws referred to in this section
• E. Money collected by these fines shall be remitted to a special account in The Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission Fund.
• F. This section does not apply to those who maintain federal authorization to be in the US.
• G. Violating this section is a Class 1 Misdemeanor except under certain conditions it is a Class 3 or Class 4 Felony.

Section 4

This section amends AZ law so that law enforcement may stop a motor vehicle if they have reasonable suspicion that a driver is in violation of Section 13-2319 of current AZ law, which makes it illegal to traffic people into the US for profit or commercial purposes.

Section 5

This section changes two parts of AZ law. The first is about working and hiring workers off the street. Subsections A & B make it illegal to stop and pick up “day laborers” under certain conditions.

The rest of the section basically says:

• If you are not in the US legally you may not work in AZ.
• If you work or hire someone to work it is a Class 1 Misdemeanor.
• You may not knowingly transport or harbor a person who is in the country illegally, and you may not encourage people to come to AZ if they are in the US illegally.

Section 6

This adds the entrapment clause to current law restricting the knowing employment or contracting persons who are in the US illegally.

Section 7

This adds the entrapment clause to current law restricting the intentional employment or contracting persons who are in the US illegally.

Section 8

Requires employers to keep employment eligibility records for the duration of employment or at least three years.

Section 9

Adds a clause to current law that makes a driver accountable to the law if “the person knows or recklessly disregards” the fact that their passenger is in the country illegally.

Section 10

This section establishes the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission Fund, which is to be used for gang and immigration enforcement and to reimburse county jails for costs relating to illegal immigration.

My Take

There is nothing in this bill that can possibly be construed as racist or hateful – as has been promoted endlessly for five days now by the media, liberal politicians, and a host of other groups. The one section that has any remote resemblance to what people call “profiling” is Section 2, Subsection B, which states that immigration status shall be verified with the federal government when there is reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally. Now, how reasonable suspicion is defined will depend on your philosophy about immigration and not on any other merit. Those who feel that immigration laws are wrong and that the US should have open borders for all to come in regardless of any factors or judgments – will no doubt say the questioning of even a single person is profiling.

Obviously our immigration laws are not being enforced properly or else this would not have been necessary. Up until now state and local law enforcement have been able to say, “that’s not my job.” Now Arizona is saying if the federal government won’t enforce their laws – we will!

Now those who have been on a free ride will need to confront the consequences of their choices. This is always a cause for unrest. The complaints are mostly from:

• People who are here illegally and now must face the music of their decision to come here
• Those who have relatives, friends, or other associates who are here illegally
• Those who hate America an look for any chance to defame, defile, or defraud; and
• Those who profit or benefit from the presence of illegal immigrants

There is one other class of people who I have seen reacting negatively to what has happened, and that is all those who do not take the time to learn about the truth of what is going on and react only to what they are told by others. If you listen to CNN or MSNBC all day or talk to people who do and don’t make any other effort to inform yourself, then you’ll probably be pretty upset by what they are saying. If some of what they were saying was true then there would be reason for being upset. Most of what they say just flat out contradicts good reason and sound principles, but a lot of it is just distortion of the truth and pandering to certain thoughts and beliefs.

Back to the bill. NO other part of the bill has anything should be controversial at all. All the controversy, I believe, has come about solely because too many people do not understand the basic laws and principles of society (thank you to last couple generations of parents and the public education system for not teaching those things).

I invite anyone to read the language in the bill and explain why it is not acceptable.

Tags: AZ 1070, Immigration, rule of law

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This entry was posted by Jeff Palmer on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.