Sonora lawmakers protest immigration measure
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — A bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration in Arizona is prompting protests from Sonora state lawmakers who call it a humiliation to Mexico and say it would violate individual rights.
Cesar Augusto Marcor Ramirez and Marco Antono Ramirez Wakamatzu, both members of Sonora's Chamber of Deputies, predict Senate Bill 1070 will provoke ill will toward Arizona law enforcement officers and strain relations between Arizona and Mexico.
Among other things, the bill says that when practicable, Arizona law enforcement officers must inquire about the immigration status of those they encounter as part of their regular activities. It also allows officers to arrest illegal immigrants and charge them with the state crime of not carrying their visas or resident alien documents issued by the U.S. government.
The measure was approved Monday by the Arizona Senate and sent to Gov. Jan Brewer, who has not said whether she will sign it. She said she wanted to examine provisions to ensure the bill does not promote racial profiling or violate equal rights.
The Sonora lawmakers' comments came at the recent Border Legislative Conference, a gathering in Tempe of state lawmakers from the 10 U.S. and Mexican border states. Denise Moreno Ducheny, a California senator and conference president, had asked the lawmakers to state their position on the measure at the conference.
While conceding Arizona has the right to protects its borders and provide for its security, the bill represents an extreme measure that is humiliating to Mexico, with which Arizona is trying forge closer economic and other ties, Ramirez Wakamatzu said.
"Then we are talking about a double standard, about a different world, when we are here trying to clear the path of obstacles and problems that are in the way of development of our border, and suddenly they put up a wall that I believe will be difficult to overcome once this becomes law," he told fellow lawmakers at the weekend gathering, which occurred before the Senate's vote on the measure.
'It's important for us that you know our feeling and that you see the important issues that this is going to affect, from the cultural, social and economic point of view."
Meanwhile, the Sonora state congress was expected to release a formal position on the measure on Tuesday.
Eloisa Flores Garcia, president of the congress, said the bill, if signed, would make Arizona an unsafe place to visit for Mexican tourists and shoppers.
"Arizona is no longer a safe place for them to go, because the police will stop them on the streets for not carrying proper documentation," she said in a prepared statement released to the news media by the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix.
