Napolitano vetoes bill on enforcing immigration

  PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed legislation Monday to require police departments and sheriff's deputies to do more to crack down on illegal immigration despite its bipartisan support.

  On one hand, Napolitano said HB 2807 is unnecessary because nothing in state law precludes local police agencies from entering into agreements with the federal government to have their officers certified to stop, question and detain people not in this country legally. She said the only thing they need is the proper federal training.

  "Many of these have already entered into these agreements on a voluntary basis,'' the governor wrote. "A legislative mandate to that effect is unnecessary."

  She also said the legislation could end up being a $100 million drain on the already overtapped state treasury.

  The measure mandated that police agencies have some sort of program to deal with violations of federal immigration laws.

  Its wording, however, gave agencies a menu of options. One of those was to have their officers get that specialized training to actually let them enforce federal immigration laws.

  Napolitano pointed out, though, that Congress appropriated only $5.5 million for that training for the entire nation. The result, she said, is demand has outstripped available funds.

  But the legislation said if federal funds were not available, the state would have to pick up the cost, not just for its own Department of Public Safety officers but any local police or sheriff's department.

  "If federal funding is not available, Arizona taxpayers would be required to pay an approximately $100 million bill at a time we are facing significant budget shortfalls,'' she wrote.

  Rep. John Nelson, R-Glendale, who crafted the measure, said that was just an "excuse.'' He said Napolitano has made it clear she is not particularly interested in supporting anything designed to help communities deal with the problems of illegal immigration.

  He said the only option for lawmakers appears to be to take these kinds of issues directly to voters.

  Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, agreed - but from a different perspective.

  He said this measure was designed to be a compromise between those who want no immigration role for cities and counties and those who believe all police officers at all levels need to be doing what they can to detain people not in this country legally.

  With HB 2807 now dead, that could provide impetus for a more comprehensive ballot measure being pushed by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.

  That measure spells out that anyone who entered this country illegally or remained here after a visa expired is guilty of the state crime of trespass, whether on public or private property.

  And that clearly would give all police - and not just those with the special federal training - the power to arrest them.

  HCR 2039 already has gained preliminary House approval. Nelson said the requirement Napolitano found objectionable for the state to fund training for police agencies was put in at the behest of local governments. He said they did not want an "unfunded mandate.''

  "It's like anything she wants to do,'' Nelson said of the veto. "She'll look for something that's an excuse and she'll put it in there.''

  Prezelski said he believes Napolitano's real reason for vetoing the bill had less to do with what it says and more to do with the politics surrounding the whole issue of illegal immigration and the role of local police agencies.

  "I don't think there was any problem with the bill legally, any problem with what the bill said in black and white,'' he said. But Prezelski said there were "larger political implications'' at hand.

  "It's happening in the context of what (Sheriff) Joe Arpaio is doing in Maricopa County,'' he said.

  The sheriff, who has had many of his officers certified to enforce immigration laws, has done a series of "sweeps'' of certain neighborhoods, looking for minor traffic violations as an excuse to pull people over and question them about whether they are in this country legally. In some circumstances that has occurred over the objections of officials of the cities where he is operating.

  Napolitano has repeatedly refused to take a public position on whether she believes the sweeps are legal or even good public policy. But Prezelski said this may be her way of expressing her concern.

  "Maybe this was an opportunity to say, 'No, this is not a local matter,'" he said.

  The activities of Arpaio clearly were on the minds of Hispanic activists who urged Napolitano to veto the legislation.

  "Racial profiling and targeting a sector of the population based on race, color of skin and national origin will only multiply as has been demonstrated in the Maricopa County Sheriff Office's operations,'' officers of Somos America wrote to the governor last week. The group, whose name translates as "We Are America,'' said the legislation "will amplify sweeps of this style, violate (individuals') civil liberties and often result in costly litigation.''