As a local government official, Debra Conrad said, she can see why Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona fought so hard for a controversial immigration law that is considered the toughest in the country.
That law requires police to determine the status of people that they have lawfully stopped and suspect are in the country illegally. A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against that part of the law, which is being challenged by the Obama administration.
Because it’s a border state, officials in Arizona say they have been overwhelmed by the problems caused by illegal immigrants.
“You can understand the pressure the governor and the legislators were under,” Conrad, a member of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, said last night during a panel discussion on the Arizona law at Wake Forest University. “I applaud the backbone of the Arizona governor.”
Other panel members were Margaret Taylor, a professor of law; Carlos Flores-Vizcarra, the Mexican Consul of the Carolinas; H. Nolo Martinez, the director for the New North Carolinians; and Forsyth County Sheriff Bill Schatzman.
Taylor said that more states are introducing immigration-related bills.
“It’s part of an overall trend toward similar state statutes,” said Taylor, who specializes in immigration law.
In 2006, there were 570 immigration-related bills introduced in states around the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the first six months of 2010, that number was up to 1,400.
North Carolina lawmakers are among those who have considered laws similar to Arizona’s. In May, Sen. Don East, R-Surry filed a joint resolution that would have made it a crime for a person not to complete and carry an alien registration document. That resolution was sent to a committee during the 2010 short session and died after the General Assembly adjourned.
Taylor said that federal courts have made it clear that the power to regulate immigration lies in the hands of the federal government.
“Arizona may be quite unhappy with federal immigration law,” she said. “But Arizona does not have the constitutional authority to dictate a different approach.”
However, local and state governments can form partnerships with the federal government. Such a partnership is going on in Forsyth County with the sheriff’s department. Under the program, the fingerprints of everyone who is booked into the county jail for any crime will be run against FBI criminal-history records and the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration records.
Since August, the sheriff’s department has submitted 1,200 sets of fingerprints. Of those, 28 people have been detained for possible deportation, Schatzman said. Immigration and Custom Enforcement will investigate the detainees.
“It’s a priority of resources,” Schatzman said. “There are only so many deportation courts and border-patrol agents. So you have to concentrate on the criminal aliens who self-identify themselves by breaking the law.”
lo’donnell@wsjournal.com
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