DHS Silent on Radical Arizona Immigration Bill

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


National Hispanic lawmakers have slammed the Arizona immigration bill passed by state legislators that would allow an unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigrants. Authored by a state Republican who’s praised a 1950s removal program called “Operation Wetback,” the bill would require police to question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally—and then arrest them if they can’t provide identity documents. Denouncing the bill as “lunacy,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez called for President Obama to intervene if the Arizona governor signs the legislation into passage, according to Politico‘s Kasie Hunt. But for the moment, the Obama administration has remained silent on the issue, using the opportunity simply to defend its own deportation program, Hunt reports :

The Department of Homeland Security, which enforces the border, would not comment on the proposed Arizona law.

“DHS continues to focus on smart, effective immigration enforcement that places priority on those dangerous criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, on employers who continue to drive illegal immigration by knowingly hiring undocumented workers, and by surging law enforcement resources at the southwest border,”said DHS spokesman Matt Chandler. 

The Arizona immigration bill comes at the same time that federal authorities have ramped up their own crackdown on illegal immigration in the state. Last week, federal immigration authorities conducted a massive raid in Arizona and Mexico to break up a human smuggling ring that used shuttle vans to transport people across the border. The DHS operation came shortly after a rancher was killed by on the border, provoking a public outcry and fueling momentum for the Arizona bill.

The Obama administration’s decision to focus on apprehending immgrants involved in trafficking rings and criminal enterprises is a more targeted policy compared with the blanket workplace raids of the Bush era. It also stands in stark contrast with the Arizona bill’s attempt to target anyone and everyone that authorities suspect of being undocumented. But if the Arizona bill becomes law, the administration’s decision to focus on deportation policy rather than broad-based reform of the immigration system could help fuel a climate of fear—and the perception that this is the only urgent immigration issue worth focusing on.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate