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SCOTTSDALE — For the third time in the past four months, a high-level elected official in Arizona has held a conference about illegal immigration and border security, underscoring the growing attention the issue is getting locally and nationally.
The Southwest Conference on Illegal Immigration, Border Security and Crime kicked off in this Phoenix suburb Thursday and runs through today. It is being hosted by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
Among the most talked about and debated issues by panelists Thursday was whether local law enforcement agencies should also be used to enforce immigration laws.
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In a speech to hundreds of police, lawmakers, human rights activists and Minutemen civilian border watchers at the conference, Thomas said using local law enforcement to weed out illegal immigrants makes sense because the two are already intertwined.
“The connection between illegal immigration and crime is undeniable,” Thomas said.
With 3.5 million residents, Maricopa County — which encompasses the Phoenix metro area — is the fourth most populous county in the nation but has the highest crime rate, Thomas said.
Arizona has also become one of the nation’s busiest crossing points for illegal immigrants in recent years. The number of people crossing — and the problems often associated with illegal immigration — has resulted in a growing backlash among Arizona voters and some politicians.
Even though Thomas only represents one county, he campaigned last year promising to “stop illegal immigration.” He has asked Arizona’s governor and attorney general to make the state police enforce a new law that created the state crime of migrant smuggling.
In September, Thomas potentially expanded the law in Maricopa County by issuing a legal opinion saying illegal immigrants suspected of using smugglers to bring them into the country can be arrested and charged under the migrant smuggling law.
But prosecutors in Arizona border counties say they’ve had trouble bringing cases under the law because it’s hard to hold on to the illegal immigrants who are the witnesses to the crime.
“I’ve been disappointed, frankly, that too many law enforcement agencies in this state have expressed unwillingness to enforce the new anti-coyote law because of the resources they have,” Thomas said. “It’s a cop-out, literally, in this case.”
Eleanor Eisenberg, the former director of the Arizona American Civil Liberties Union, argued against using local police to enforce immigration laws. She said for police, it could ruin their critical relationship with immigrant communities, effectively creating “fear mongering.”
She said law enforcement “have their priorities straight dealing with people accused of criminal activity.”
In Cochise County, Sheriff Larry Dever said it’s not a matter of whether local authorities should be involved in enforcing immigration laws. They already are.
“We’re engaged in it whether we want to be or not,” Dever said. “We need to decide what level to be involved and seek adequate funding.”
In his speech, Thomas said additional money was not needed to start enforcing a new mandate.
State Rep. Russell Pearce, who backed a voter-approved law requiring proof of citizenship to vote and limiting services for illegal immigrants, agreed with Thomas and suggested that police always ask about citizenship when dealing with a crime investigation.
nicole ray wrote on Jun 21, 2009 3:35 PM: