Rep. Russell Pearce personal website, House website.

From Russell Pearce:

It is time to renew our efforts to eliminate ALL sanctuary policies in this state: Require officials to fully enforce federal immigration laws of the United States.

My personal background in law enforcement has given me a unique and in-touch perspective with the needs and hazards experienced by rank-and-file police officers. I am delighted to have the support of Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (P.L.E.A.), Border Patrol, Maricopa County Republican Party, Arizona State Republican Party (both passed Resolutions unanimously in support), Sheriff Joe, County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Hispanic groups, PAChyderm Coalition, Arizona Republican Assembly, other Pariotic groups and according to the polls over 75% of Arizona Citizens.

Like me, PLEA understands the danger of ignoring illegal immigration. The burden of blind-eye police department policies and open-border philosophies were paid for with the lives of not only PLEA members, but other law enforcement personnel throughout our state. The danger clearly spread beyond law enforcement into our communities with more lives being lost. The quality of life in our state is being sacrificed for political correctness.

WE stand together in support of safer neighborhoods and the rule of law.

I cannot stand by and be a spectator to the death, maiming or damage to another police officer, citizen or taxpayer by an illegal alien because we refuse to enforce our laws and fail to put America and Americans First.

Simply enforce our laws and you will see less crime, lower taxes, smaller class sizes, shorter lines in our emergency rooms and reduce deaths, murders, maimings, drugs, home invasions, car jackings, kidnappings, jobs taken from Americans, reduced wages, an ultimately save the taxpayer billions of dollars. We cannot afford to “NOT” enforce our laws. Attrition by Enforcement.

This is the “only” law we allow our elected officials to put conditions on before our police officers can do their job. The only criminals that get conditional protection from our elected and appointed officials.

Citizens have a constitutional right to expect the protection of federal laws which prohibit unauthorized activities by non-citizens and are denied equal protection law enforcement, police department or magistrate fails to enforce those laws.

I PLEDGE TO CONTINUE TO WORK TO ELIMINATE ALL SANCTUARY POLICIES IN THIS STATE, THE RESULT WILL BE LESS CRIME & LOWER TAXES.

Many of our Police Chiefs are in complete violation of their Oaths of Office while citizens and taxpayers pay the price.

As former Chief Deputy of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, former Judge and now a lawmaker, I witnessed a day that I couldn’t imagine: Police chiefs throughout the Valley stood together and proclaimed their opposition to enforcing the law in complete Violation of their Oath of Office.

I sat ashen as I watched the news reports.

The chiefs of police, including Phoenix’s Harris, Mesa’s Gascon, stood at a Press Conference and publicly refused to enforce the law. Less than a month after the brutal murder of a police officer at the hands of an illegal alien, they snub the opportunity to make necessary changes, all for the sake of political correctness.

Death and maimings of police officers & citizens by illegal aliens:
Officer’s Figueroa, Erfle, Atkinson, Sitek, Eggle, Epling, Deputy’s Pearce & Argetsinger, Sgt. Tapia, Martin, Fass, Kirpnick, Schechterle, Gilbert mother killed, Jason Iraq veteran, Mother a “legal immigrant” killed, triple homicide, 3 illegals beat pregnant woman, 5 illegals kill principal, Feds arrest 2,100 violent criminal aliens, deputy in hit and run, Trooper Shot to Death, Day laborer killed girlfriend’s baby, Muslim from Bosnia – Killed 5 in crowded shopping mall, Sniper, John Lee Malvo, required by law to be immediately deported. Instead, released Malvo and his cohort killed 10 people, two disabled teenage daughters raped Salvadoran street gang, Dep. March killed, Tricia Taylor lost both her legs, 10 year old Walter Valenzuela murdered, Kimberley Hope murdered, 5 year old Ana Cerna murdered, Joseph Crummy murdered, Amber Merkle only 8, killed, Vinessa, 23, brutally raped & murdered, and the list goes on.

9,000 Americans killed each year, 25 each day, 12 by stabbings and shootings, 13 by DUI and related crimes (Congressional Report; Drawing a Line in the Sand).

Study: 1 million sex crimes by illegals; More than 100 sex offenders crossing border daily Deborah Schurman-Kauflin: Based on a one-year in-depth study, a researcher estimates there are about 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each.

Police officers have the inherent authority to uphold city, state and federal law (the law is clear and the courts have codified that authority and the Constitutional authority is clear). These officers witness the harm done to innocent Arizonans on a daily basis while their superiors instruct them to ignore their oath of office. Officers on the street have the legal authority, will and desire to enforce the law but the hierarchy stands against them, more interested in PC and harboring illegal aliens, rather than doing their job of protecting lawful citizens and that of “Public Safety”.

The more than 800,000 state and local law enforcement officers in the United States constitute a vital force multiplier. Most importantly, state and local police officers represent a critical line of defense in the war against terrorism. In the six months before 9/11, there were four tragic missed opportunities to arrest the leaders and pilots of the 9/11 terrorists. Had the federal government acquired & disseminated information about basic civil immigration violations to local law enforcement through the NCIC system, several terrorists might have been arrested, and the 9/11 plot might have unraveled. The 4 ring leaders all had been stopped by law enforcement just prior to 9/11 and all in violation of immigration law. As George Santayana reminded us: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. . . . Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

While “We the People” debate the action or lack thereof from the federal government, our cities, neighborhoods, our streets have turned into war zones. Legions of illegal alien gangs fight for the right to smuggle drugs and people. An illegal alien pulled over by police for a traffic offense has no worries about facing anything more than a small fine, many of our Chiefs prefer to wait until they kill someone of commit a serious felony. A congressional Homeland Security Committee report estimates that illegals kill over 9,000 Americans a year; annually they kill twice the number of Americans than the brave soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq to date.

Many of these have prior contacts or arrests and still remain in the U.S. Enough is enough.

After years of witnessing the increase in crime, it is inexcusable for our Valley’s police chiefs to maintain their sanctuary policies. We can not stand by and tolerate them putting the rights of non-citizens above citizens.

Every day the cost of ignoring the border increases tax fraud, identity theft, and property crimes, a burden on Arizona residents; billions to educate, medicate and incarcerate; but the irreversible cost of violent crimes can not be endured any more.

Police chiefs in this state are more interested in putting handcuffs on their officers than illegal aliens.

Arizonans have spoken loudly and yet they refuse to listen:

In ’04 Passing Prop. 200, requiring proof of citizenship & ID at the polls to vote, and denying public benefits to illegal aliens; Nov. ‘06 by a 75% average citizens passed Propositions 100, denying bail to illegals who commit serious felonies; 102, denying punitive damages to illegals; 103, making English Arizona’s Official Language; and 300, denying public benefits to those in our country illegally.

We also passed at the legislature the toughest Worksite Enforcement bill in the nation, “The Fair and Legal Employment Act”.

I am not sure what part of “illegal” they don’t understand, but finally the citizens are standing up and demanding we tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Let’s take the handcuffs off from our police officers, Arizona will finally be able to give away its title as a crime capital of the United States.

By allowing our cops on the beat to do their jobs, they could be responsible for the one of the largest crime reduction programs in state history.

Those that refuse to follow their constitutional duty or live up to their oath of office should be forced to step aside and make way for honest, hard-working law enforcement officers that know their job and cost of not doing it. Your Mayor and City Council would have to do their job first.

Since that isn’t likely to happen, I hope the voters have the final say.

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Domestic Terrorism”: Illegal aliens in our country that assault, kill, and intimidate American citizens.

This week, we lost another American; a young Gilbert Mother killed in Mesa, by an illegal alien fleeing from the police who had been cited and released just the week before by Mesa PD.  Local law enforcement has the authority to arrest and book on immigration violations, but the police were not allowed to do so. Mesa is a sanctuary city, and refuses to allow our police to do their job. As a result this mother left two children behind. Our government is complicit in these deaths and injuries to our citizens.

Illegals are responsible for more deaths in the U.S. each year than we lost at Pearl Harbor, in the 9-11 attack and in the Iraq war to date.  Where is the outrage of our government?  According to a Congressional report as many as 9,000 killed each year in the U.S. by illegal aliens; 25 per day, 12 by stabbings and shootings and 13 a day by DUI and other vehicular crimes.  We have become the home-invasion, car-jacking, identity-theft capital of the Nation.

FREE: Schooling, housing, medical, food stamps, along with jobs that Americans use to do, social security benefits, UnConstitutional Citizenship by birth to non-Americans, subsidized mortgages, drug trafficking, gangs, identity-theft, tax evasion, anti-American attitudes, and demanding services and education in their language!

We have those that are in violation of their Oath of Office.  They have not kept the promise or met their obligations to American Citizens.

Arizona Republican Party takes a strong stand: Jan. 27th, The Arizona Republican Party at their State convention, with over 800 elected State Committeemen who represent this party from every single Legislative District and Congressional District and represent the core values of this party voted UNANIMOUSLY to support a resolution to enforce laws on Employer Sanctions and the elimination of Sanctuary Policies in this state.

The numbers; 5,000 to 10,000 each day, 3 to 4 million annually, More than 23 million “illegal aliens” currently live in the U.S.  We know the cost is billions in healthcare, education, crime, loss of lives, etc.  We do know that law abiding citizens are being damaged, hurt and killed everyday.

We have a massive failure of government, like Hurricane Katrina, the failure is at all levels, federal, state and local.

We are a Nation of Laws.  We “Our” elected officials, and our appointed officials, must have the courage – the fortitude – to enforce, with compassion but without apology, those laws that protect the integrity of our borders and the rights of our lawful citizens.

According to recent polls 87 percent of Americans want illegal immigration stopped and the laws enforced!

Today, conditions are probably as bad as or worse than they ever have been on the border.  What we find is a mass invasion of historic proportions: individuals running through backyards, breaking down fences, slaughtering cattle, cutting their dogs’ throats if they bark, and terrifying people.  Men and women who live on the border walk around armed.  Women accompany their children to the bus stop with a gun in their purse in the heaviest cross-corridors.

We find that people are afraid to go out at night.  Water tanks are emptied.  Stock gets killed.  Fences are destroyed.  It’s a very, very bad and our politicians continue to pander.

We must secure our borders and enforce our laws now!  Our citizens deserve it, our Constitution demands it, and our Oath of Office requires us.  We have the ability, the technology, the resources we just need honest and dedicated servants to honor the will of this great nation.

Violent illegal aliens gangs that roam our streets robbing, stealing injuring, and killing our citizens, and the law enforcement officers/border patrol/park rangers everyday. Two deputy Sheriff’s in Maricopa County (AZ) shot while serving murder warrants on illegal aliens (one of them being my son who was critically injured).

The largest and most violent gangs in America are made up of illegal aliens (i.e. MS-13 ’50,000’ strong, one of the most violent ever known).

Unlike Vegas, what goes on in Arizona does not stay in Arizona.  We are the gateway to the rest of the U.S.

Yes, many of these people simply want to better their lives. However we must distinguish between legal and illegal. People who have enough respect for this great country to abide by its laws and follow the established procedure for so doing are welcome.

Every single American, in every corner of the country, is at risk from our unsecured borders!

The Federal government has the Constitutional duty to secure our borders.

Article IV Section 4 of the U.S.  Constitution states that, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion.”  If three to four million “illegal” aliens coming across the border annually is not an invasion, I don’t know what is!

Why are we not enforcing the law?

Local Law Enforcement’s Inherent Authority of Immigration Law: 1996 Immigration Control Act made it clear local law enforcement could enforce immigration law. The courts have agreed.

Congress has firmly established that there is a significant public interest in the effective enforcement of immigration law. In the absence of a limitation on local enforcement powers, the states are bound by the Supremacy Clause of the United ‘States Constitution to enforce violations of the federal immigration laws. “The statutory law of the United States is part of the law of each state just as if it were written into state statutory law.”

Often a misunderstanding of the relationship between federal criminal and immigration law causes one to believe being present in the U.S. in violation of immigration law is civil and “not a crime” and is clearly wrong. The enforcement role given to local government by the Constitution and the Congress is clear. Unsanctioned entry into the United States is a crime.
State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as state law does not restrict such general power.

The U.S. has a “compelling interest” in the criminal prosecution of immigration law violators, which is a part of a comprehensive, essential sovereign policy of uniform immigration law enforcement.

In Sections 1324 the language that referred to officers “of the United States” when talking about authority to arrest was stricken from section 1324 by amendment. In People v. Baraja, a California court concluded, “that change can only mean that the scope of the arrest power under section 1324 was enlarged; in no way can it mean that the scope of arrest under the other two sections was restricted. Such an acute non sequitur would attribute to the Congress both serious inconsistency and profound lack of logic.”

Other important amendments to federal law enacted in 1996 were intended by Congress to encourage state and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing civil as well as criminal federal immigration laws by providing incentives such as reduced liability and specialized training.

In 1999 a decision in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the independent authority of local police departments to enforce federal immigration law. The U.S. Dept. of Justice endorsed this doctrine in April 2002. Under Attorney General Ashcroft, the U.S. Dept. of Justice took the position that state and local police have inherent authority to enforce civil immigration laws.

Assistant Attorney General Kobach explained that the inherent arrest authority of states arises from their pre-constitutional status as sovereign entities. The powers retained by the states at the time of ratification proceeded “not from the people of the United States, but from the people of the several states,” and remain unchanged, except as they have been “abridged” by the Constitution. The authority of a state to arrest for violations of federal law is thus not delegated; but “inheres in the ability of one sovereign to accommodate the interests of another sovereign.” This federalism-based analysis has a strong judicial pedigree.

The courts also ruled (Miller v. U.S., 357 U.S. 301, 305(1958) that a warrant less arrest “of an arrest for violation of federal law by state peace officers.”

Sanctuary policies are illegal. Local, state, or federal government agencies that sanction or retaliate against employees or officials who report immigration law violations to ICE or the Border Patrol can be sued by the whistleblower under 8 U.S.C. 1373 or 8 U.S.C. 1644 for damages and costs.

Citizens have a constitutional right to expect the protection of federal laws which prohibit unauthorized activities by non-citizens; they are denied equal protection when a police department or magistrate acts in a manner that encourages or assists persons selected on the basis of nationality or alienage to engage in such unlawful activities.

Illegal aliens are not a suspect class entitled to Fourteenth Amendment based on strict scrutiny of any discriminatory classification based on that status, nor are they defined by an immutable characteristic, since their status is the product of conscious unlawful action.

Supreme Court Ruling Razes Artificial Fire Wall Between Local Law Enforcement and Immigration Enforcement (Muehler v. Mena) 9-0 Landmark Decision (Washington D.C.—April 1, 2005) In its March 22 ruling in the case of Muehler v. Mena, the Supreme Court removed barriers that prevent local law enforcement officers from questioning the immigration status of individuals they suspect to be in the United States illegally.

Congress expressly intended for local law enforcement to act in cases in which officers have reason to believe that an individual is in the country illegally, even though immigration law enforcement is not their primary responsibility. In 1996, Congress passed and President Clinton signed legislation that protects individual officers who act to enforce federal immigration laws, even if their departments have non-cooperation policies.

I was in law enforcement for over 30 years and know the value of handcuffs; when they are on the right people. Get them off from law enforcement and put them on the law violators!!!!

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I have always been serious and active in protecting our citizens from criminals. I have spent 30 years in the criminal justice system. As the former Chief Deputy of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, in 1993 I authored and built ‘Tent City’ to make sure there was never a No Vacancy sign up in Maricopa County. If law enforcement really cared about safe neighborhoods and safer streets they would enforce our laws.

Deportation starts with a traffic stop. Attrition by enforcement. We also must go after employers who hire illegal aliens; Disney learned a long time ago, if you want people to go home shut down the rides.

Local Law Enforcement has inherent authority to enforce immigration law. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution the “Supremacy Clause” makes it clear, the 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th circuit courts and last year the U.S. Supreme Court in a Landmark decision made it clear that locale law enforcement can ask and can act.

Truly this governor is the best friend an illegal alien has. It is a sad day when this governor and the Democrat legislators and a few Republican legislators sides with law breakers against law keepers and citizens. Our elected officials have sworn to protect and uphold the laws and the Constitution.

You want more money in education?
You want safer neighborhoods?
You want reduce the health care crises
You want less congestion?
You want lower insurance auto and health?
You want better wages?
Name the problem and the illegal alien invasion is a major contributor.

Secure the border and enforce our laws.

Here in Arizona we spend about $1.2 billion annually just in K thru 12 educating over 185,000 Non English speakers (most if not all illegal aliens).

Arizona is #1 in crime: a correct correlation to the illegal alien invasion. Phoenix the 5th most like city to be killed in.
Illegal aliens responsible for the largest and most violent gangs: (MS13, 30K to 50,000 in over 35 major cities, 18th Street gang in LA made up of over 20,000 strong)

Huge health care cost, criminal justice cost, filling emergency rooms.

I often ask this question of folks: What do the approximately 50,000 people who live in the Sierra Vista area, AND the approximately 50,000 people who live in the Prescott area, AND the approximately 50,000 people who live in the Flagstaff area all have in common � other than living in Arizona?

Well, if you add up all those people AND IF you add the entire population of Mesa Arizona � that�s an additional 400,000-people � if you add them ALL up � you would STILL NOT HAVE AS MANY PEOPLE AS THERE ARE ILLEGAL ALIENS LIVING IN ARIZONA RIGHT NOW!

The Pew Center for Hispanic research � and this is a relatively liberal group � estimated more than a two years ago that at least 500,000 illegal immigrants live in Arizona.

But that was a couple of years ago. The number now is certainly in excess of 600,000 people (perhaps 1,000,000). We know that atleast 5,000 to 10,000 cross our southern border “daily”!

That�s more than one out of every ten people who live in our state!
One out of every ten people you pass on the road. One out of every ten people you see at the store; and MORE THAN one of every ten people you see in our classrooms and probably one out of every two in our emergency rooms.

Why the additional numbers there? Because illegals often use our emergency rooms to obtain free primary care; and because generally, the birth rate among illegal immigrants is substantially higher than the population at large. This results in more hospital visits and more children in the classroom.

When do we enforce our laws?
When do we stand up for the law abiding citizen?
When do we stand up for America and the Rule of Law?
I am not willing to let another 20 years go by waiting on the feds. It is our citizens that are injured and our taxpayers that are impacted severely everyday we fail to secure our borders and enforce our laws. Local Law Enforcement has “inherent” authority to enforce our laws and the responsibility and we must demand they do so. Sanctuary policies are illegal.

But until the past 30 years, that meant we were a nation of legal immigrants. Legal entrants who would apply for admission, who had a U.S. Sponsor who would support them if necessary, or skills, or education, or some money of their own � and often they had all of these things.

Only in recent history has America � and now particularly Arizona — been flooded with illegal international trespassers, most of whom don�t have any of the things I just mentioned.

They sneak across the border hoping for a better life, but immediately needing free health care, free education, and free government support if they can get it and usually do get it. A new federal report show only 4 states verify eligibility before you get Medicaid (in Arizona it is AHCCCS) a $5 billion program with more folks enrolled in AHCCCS than all of K through 12.

But those things aren�t free. We pay for them. Right here in Arizona the average LEGAL family pays at least an extra $2,000 every year to support illegal immigrants and another $2000 in taxes to make up for the over $300 billion in unpaid taxes by the underground workforce that don’t pay taxes and still use services such as education ($8500 annually per child) not including ELL. And those are just the direct expenses. They don�t include the cost of increased crime, education, increased car insurance, and other direct, but non-governmental expenses.

This is legislation I ran this year (some of it I have introduced several years in a row); What is in the legislation? $160 million for border security and enforcement (THE GOVERNOR VETOED THE BILL):

� Employer Sanctions (5th year I have introduced this)
� Elimination of ALL “illegal” Sanctuary Polices (2nd time)
� Border Radar/Infrastructure ($50 million) 1st time
� Funds the National Guard on the Border ($10 million)
� $56 million for Grants to Local Law Enforcement to help in Jail cost and Enforcement efforts
� $20 million to expand GIITEM to add 200 officers to go after gangs, illegal aliens and border security
� Create an additional state crime for illegal aliens to enter or remain in Arizona (permissive for law enforcement/an additional tool)
� Stops frivolous law suits by illegal aliens against U.S. Citizens
� Southern Arizona Crime Lab ($14 million)
� One must remember this is the governor that met with Mexican Officials before she took office promising a Driver License to “illegals”

This is the Governor that marched in the streets against Protect Arizona NOW (KNOWN AS Prop. 200) that was to protect the integrity of our elections and stop welfare fraud.

This is the governor who has vetoed “nine” bills to enforce our laws against illegal aliens

This is the Governor that declared a State of Emergency back in August of ‘05 and did not put ONE ADDITIONAL guardsman on the border.

This is the Governor that continues to make drive-by statements about border security and then refuses help secure the border or enforce the law.

This Governor uses fallacious and misleading statements to justify her vetoes. This invasion across our border is causing billions of dollars to the taxpayer, 185,000 non English speakers in our K-12 at over $1 billion cost to taxpayers, health care cost, criminal justice cost, largest and most violent gangs in American (MS13 (30 to 50,000), 18 street gang over 20,000), Arizona is #1 in crime in the nations a direct correlation to failed border security and “illegal” Sanctuary Policies local Police Chiefs, Sheriffs, and Politicians.

This governor ignores that damage to this nation, the cost to the taxpayer and impact on our neighborhoods as she continues her proven history of being the best friend of “illegal” aliens. She is purposely misleading and completely wrong in saying that the illegal immigration bill �indemnifies� employers.

House Bill 2577 calls for strict employer sanctions as allowed by federal law. Federal Law prevents states from adding employer penalties to the front end, but does allow for the suspension or revocation of business licenses for offending employers. Our bill goes as far as federal laws allow. There are many in the business community who oppose this bill because they believe it goes too far.

Mandatory Audits
Mandatory use of the Basic Pilot Program for all state agencies and those who contract with the state
Possible revocation or suspension of license for any one who “knowingly” hires illegal aliens
Mandatory jail time for repeat offenders
Must terminate and report any illegal aliens to ICE
Requires the AG to enforce the provisions
Large fines for each violation
Goes after employers who pay under the table or fail to report employers
THIS IS ALL IN ADDITION TO FEDERAL PENALTIES:

Regarding the trespass provision, again the governor is wrong and simply refuses to allow “true” enforcement of “illegal” activity. On several occasions I have explained to you in detail how the trespass provision of this bill is meant to be used as another tool for local law enforcement. It is constitutional, and the fact that Democrats on the border oppose this bill and support a Democrat governor should come as no surprise to anyone. I suggest that their opposition is political, not practical.

The governor claims that this has been �a political game� rather than �a serious effort to protect the border. This governor is the one playing politics. She is the one not being serious about border protection. Since her declaration of an emergency on our border last August�that�s ten months ago�she has done nothing to secure our borders. In this legislative session alone she has three times vetoed legislation to secure our borders, she continues to hide behind federal inaction, and now claims we have to wait for Congress to act�whenever that will be.

Simply, she is not serious about border security and enforcement of our laws.

These points are to rebut various claims local law enforcement makes in opposition to a more active role by local law enforcement in helping stop illegal immigration.

The claims come from letters (she requested) sent to by some law enforcement chiefs who refuse to enforce our laws and urging the Governor Napolitano to veto HB2577, the comprehensive enforcement legislation;) the 5/19/06 letter signed by various County Attorneys and County Sheriffs from southern Arizona; and 2) the 5/22/06 letter from the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police.

Claim #1: The bill requires law enforcement agencies to enter into Memoranda of Understanding with the federal government regarding immigration enforcement, and the feds don�t enter into these agreements and won�t provide training.

Reality:

This is patently false
Florida and Alabama have entered into agreements with the federal government for some of their state troopers to act as immigration officers, and Orange County, California is considering doing it also
According to the White House, Arizona already has one of these agreements with the federal government, and the federal government is actively seeking out partners to enter into additional agreements under 8 U.S.C. Section 1357 (g).
According to a May 15, 2006 press release from the White House:
�Section 287(g) Of The Immigration And Nationality Act [8 U.S.C. Section 1347(g)] Authorizes DHS To Train State And Local Law Enforcement Officials In Immigration Enforcement So They Can Identify And Process Incarcerated Aliens. DHS is working with State and local law enforcement

Across the Nation to ensure illegal aliens are removed from the United States. 287(g) programs have already been established in Alabama, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and California. DHS will work with its State and local partners to expand these programs to increase targeted enforcement and will be requesting $50 million dollars for this effort along the southern border.�

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060515-10.html
Claim #2: the Ninth Circuit limited the power of local law enforcement to assist with the enforcement of federal immigration law in Gonzalez v. City of Peoria, 722 F.2d 468.

Reality:

The Gonzalez court held that state and local police have broad powers to make arrests for violations of federal law, and held explicitly that state and local police could make arrests for criminal violations of immigration law
The U.S. Department of Justice�s position, which is the official position of the United States government, is that states and localities can make arrests for criminal and civil violations of federal immigration law
That local government can assist with enforcement of federal immigration law has been officially sanctioned by various courts and by Congress:
�(g) Performance of immigration officer functions by State officers and employees (1) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, the Attorney General may enter into a written agreement with a State, or any political subdivision of a State, pursuant to which an officer or employee of the State or subdivision, who is determined by the Attorney General to be qualified to perform a function of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States (including the transportation of such aliens across State lines to detention centers), may carry out such function at the expense of the State or political subdivision and to the extent consistent with State and local law.�

8 U.S.C. Section 1357.
Claim #3: the trespass provision of the bill will overwhelm state and local police departments and will make police departments take resources away from fighting serious crime and devote it to fighting illegal immigration, which is less serious

Reality:

The bill gives police discretion not to prosecute first time offenders
The notion that police spend all of their time on major crimes is a myth, and any time spent on illegal immigration will take them away from investigating rapes and murders is also a myth
Phoenix P.D. alone charged tens of thousands of misdemeanors in 2005, and thousands of civil traffic offenses
The claim that illegal immigration is a �minor crime� that should be ignored in favor of more serious crimes is a repudiation of the �broken windows� policy of policing (this theory is that if the police ignore less serious crimes it creates an atmosphere of lawlessness that begets more serious crimes) that has proved so effective
By combating illegal immigration, police will have fewer illegal aliens committing state law crimes to deal with, freeing up resources
Claim #4: Even if enforced, the trespass law will do nothing to stop the revolving door of illegal immigration, and this law only �delays the inevitable.�

Reality:

This is a repudiation of the theory of deterrence. With this logic, we should not punish criminal activity at all, because it is only �delaying the inevitable� as the criminal is likely to re-offend anyway
Second offenses carry a mandatory prison term of three years, which will be an effective deterrent to this notion of a �revolving door�

Claim #5: Local law enforcement assisting in stopping illegal immigration will have a �chilling effect� on the local illegal alien community and will prevent victims and witnesses from coming forward to report more serious crimes

Reality:

Many aliens are afraid to come forward already for fear of being deported. Cooperation of the illegal immigrant community in fighting crime is of dubious value
For first time offenders, police have the discretion to turn the offender over to the federal authorities
The federal government often times does not even initiate deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants, so the risk of being deported by coming forward to local law enforcement is questionable
The bill imposes no obligation on policy to determine a person�s immigration status. If a person comes forward as a victim or a witness, there is no obligation on the part of police to ask if that person is illegal or not
Claim #6: The trespassing portion of this bill will lead to racial profiling

Under the bill, trespassing by having entered the U.S. illegally is a secondary offense. Law enforcement cannot stop to make an arrest or stop a vehicle on suspicion of this offense alone
Because of treaties that the U.S. has entered into, local law enforcement already has an obligation to inform a foreign government if a national of that country is accused of a crime, so they already have to ask about a person�s nationality often times anyway
No person can be arrested or detained without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Nothing in this bill changes that
Claim #7: A New Hampshire trail court has ruled that the federal government has �occupied the field� and left no room for states to act on immigration matters

Reality:

This is laughable considering that Congress and numerous United States Courts of Appeals have stated just the opposite, that there is a role for states to play in helping enforce federal immigration law
In Gonzalez v. the City of Peoria, a Ninth Circuit case which, unlike a New Hampshire state case, is controlling in Arizona, the court held explicitly that state and local police could make arrests for criminal violations of immigration law.
The U.S. Department of Justice�s position, which is the official position of the United States government, is that states and localities can make arrests for criminal and civil violations of federal immigration law
That local government can assist with enforcement of federal immigration law has been officially sanctioned by various courts and by Congress
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a much higher court than the New Hampshire trial court, stated it clearly in the case of United States v. Vasquez-Alvarez, 176 F3d 1294 (10th Cir. 1999): stated it clearly: �This collection of statutory provisions [8 U.S.C. �� 1252(c) and 1357(g) evinces a clear invitation from Congress for state and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws.�

Claim #8: A class 4 felony for entering the U.S. illegally is too high
Reality:

Under federal law, a person who enters illegally and is deported and then reenters again illegally is guilty of a felony
The Arizona law is consistent with federal law: first offense is a misdemeanor, second offense is a felony. 8 U.S. Code Sections 1325 and 1326
Representative Russell Pearce, R-18, Mesa, Chairman of House Appropriations