Florida GOP lawmaker blasts Arizona immigration law as the law itself changes overnight

By Mitch Perry on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 10:07 am

When illegal immigration became a serious issue in the Golden State in the 90's, a draconian law known as proposition 187 was passed in 1994, at the same time that Republican governor Pete Wilson was running for re-election (and hoped that a win would propel him to a run at the White House, which ended poorly for him in 1996).

There was a tremendous backlash, especially as the Latino vote grew in California, and the state, which is actually filed with many conservative enclaves outside the Bay Area and Los Angeles, has voted solidly Democratic in presidential elections ever since.

That bad immigration problem in California has matriculated over the last decade to Arizona, and hence the fervor for such a law as the one passed last week.

But even those who support the law in Arizona realize it has gone too far in some respects, which is why yesterday the legislature made some significant changes to the law.

According to the Arizona Republic,

The phrase "lawful contact" would be changed to "lawful stop, detention or arrest" to clarify that an officer would not need to question a crime victim or witness about their legal status. //

The word "solely" would be eliminated from the sentence "A law enforcement official or agency … may not solely consider race, color or national origin" in establishing reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally.

But a third change to the law may not make it "better." Again, according to the Arizona Republic:

That change clarifies that a police officer responding to city ordinance violations would also be required to determine the immigration status of an individual they have reasonable suspicion of being in the country illegally. City ordinance violations vary by municipality but could include things like loud parties, barking dogs, cars on blocks in the yard or too many renters.

There are major rallies that were already scheduled for comprehensive immigration reform to happen across the country tomorrow, including in Miami and Washington, but none in the Tampa Bay area.

Although the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is probably the most important story of the week, and Charlie Crist's defection from the GOP the most fun, nationally the most engaged debate has been on the state of Arizona's tough new immigration law signed by their governor last week.

Though public opinion polls in Arizona and across the nation show positive ratings, the bill has been blasted internationally as "Un-American" and "Nazi-like," and not just in the states by Democrats.

Yesterday, Fort Myers area Republican Congressman Connie Mack attacked the new law, comparing it to Gestapo like tactics in a statement:

“There’s no question that our nation’s immigration policies are in dire straits. We all agree that inaction by both the Bush and the Obama Administrations has compounded this problem and forced states like Arizona to take drastic measures,” wrote Mack, the ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, in a statement released Thursday. “But the new Arizona law strikes a severe blow to freedom and the principles that make our nation strong. This law of ‘frontier justice’ – where law enforcement officials are required to stop anyone based on ‘reasonable suspicion’ that they may be in the country illegally – is reminiscent of a time during World War II when the Gestapo in Germany stopped people on the street and asked for their papers without probable cause. It shouldn’t be against the law to not have proof of citizenship on you.”

Mack's criticism shows how divided the Republican Party is on how to deal with illegal immigration, and echoes criticism by such prominent Florida lawmakers as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio earlier this week.

Though popular in many respects because of the public's dissatisfaction with Congress failure to address the issue, the harsh rhetoric previously employed on immigration has significantly hurt the Republican party in the recent past, with California as the best example of what the GOP must fear going forward on the issue.

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