A just-released Rasmussen poll finds that 64% of Arizona voters are supportive of a new radical anti-immigrant law which was signed last week by that state’s Governor Jan brewer. The poll, like voters across the U.S., also revealed that a majority of Arizona voters, 57%, favor an immigration policy that is welcoming of all immigrants except “national security threats, criminals and those who would come here to live off our welfare system.”
The Arizona Immigration Bill, SB 1070, signed into law last week, allows for (i) police to determine the immigrant status of anyone they encounter, if there is reasonable suspicion they are illegal immigrants (ii) makes it a crime to be in the county illegally (iii) allows lawsuits against government agencies that don’t enforce immigration laws and (iv) makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.
Since signing the bill, there has been a national outcry with opponents indicating that the new law promotes racial profiling and will lead to civil rights abuses.
(See Video of Arizona Protest Below)
President Obama called the legislation “irresponsible” and a “misguided” measure that “threatens basic notions of fairness.” Earlier on Wednesday, Obama said that it is a “poorly conceived law.”
The new anti-immigration law has in part been motivated by the growing number of illegal immigrants estimated to be about 460,000, and the erroneous belief that crime is on the increase. In fact, according to the Department of Justice, as reported by the Washington D.C. based Cato Institute, the crime rate in Arizona in 2008 was the lowest it has been in four decades. Moreover, as the number of illegal immigrants in the state grew rapidly over the past decade, the violent crime rate dropped by 23 percent and the property crime rate by 28 percent.
Nonetheless, the poll found that 36% of Arizona voters are angry about the immigration situation and another 25% say they are frustrated. At the same time, 76% say it is more important to gain control of the border than it is to legalize the status of undocumented workers.
There have been several calls for an economic boycott of Arizona.
Minorities have been saying that they will not now feel comfortable going to Arizona, as the probability of their being stopped by police requesting papers of proof of citizenship and residency in the U.S. is quite high.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department is currently reviewing the new law and may go to court to challenge it. Attorney General, Eric Holder said that the new law has too much potential for abuse and could divide communities and law enforcement.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, like President Obama, called the law misguided, and said that most law enforcement groups oppose these laws.
The new Arizona Immigration Bill is due to take effect in late July early August 2010.
Comprehensive immigration reform and the treatment of undocumented workers in the U.S. has been an a contentious issue for several decades.
Scenes from the April 24th Arizona Immigration Bill Protest
