Napolitano Criticizes Immigration Law
By ALICIA MUNDY
U.S. NEWS
MAY 2, 2010, 2:39 P.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... theadlines
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano on Sunday said
Arizona's new immigration law was unnecessary because illegal immigration is decreasing in that state.
Ms. Napolitano, who was previously governor of Arizona, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that there have been "more boots on the ground" and more drug seizures over the past 15 months. "The border's more under control than ever before," she said.
"This is the kind of law I used to veto when I was governor," she said, because of its emphasis on putting the burden back on local law enforcement.
Ms. Napolitano sent a similar message during an appearance on ABC News's "This Week," saying the reduction in illegal immigrants in Arizona undermined the premise for enacting new legislation. But she added, "There's still a lot of frustration out there," which shows the need for a general immigration-law overhaul.
Arizona last month enacted a law that makes it a crime to be present in the state without legal immigration status, and authorizes police to question people suspected to be illegal immigrants about their status.
The law has become a lightning rod for immigration advocates, who rallied in cities across the country on Saturday, urging Congress to pass legislation overhauling immigration policy.
Democrats in Congress have just unveiled the outlines of a new immigration bill that would strengthen efforts at border security and also include a pathway to citizenship for many illegal immigrants now in the country. But no Republicans have signed on, and the measure's prospects remain cloudy.
Marco Rubio, a Republican who is running for the Senate in Florida, also criticized the Arizona law on CNN. He said Arizona's leaders saw the immigration problem "as a law enforcement emergency" and had acted on that basis, but added that he thought the law was too extreme.
According to a recent Gallup poll, more than three-quarters of Americans have heard about Arizona's new immigration law, and of these, 51% say they favor it and 39% oppose it. Even those who haven't heard or read much about the law said they favored it, 41% to 31%, Gallup said.
"Most Americans have heard about Arizona's tough new immigration law, and they generally support it," the polling agency wrote in a summary of its findings. The survey of more than 1,000 adults was conducted April 27-28 and had a margin of error of four percentage points.
Immigration was the focus of a couple of pointed jokes at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner on Saturday evening. President Barack Obama caused the 2,300-person crowd to gasp and then erupt in laughter when he noted that Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, didn't make it to the event.
Sen. McCain, Mr. Obama said, claimed this year that "he had never identified himself as a maverick."
He paused. "We all know what happens in Arizona when you don't have ID... Adios, amigos."
Comedian Jay Leno, the evening's entertainer, said that going through security checkpoints into the dinner, "I got stuck behind the Arizona congressional delegation. Luckily all their papers were in order so it wasn't too much of a problem."
Former Arizona Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.) squared off over the Arizona immigration law on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
"The law is discriminatory," said Mr. Gutierrez, who was arrested in front of the White House during a Saturday protest against the new Arizona bill. "What about all that garlic and grapes and onions we pick?" he asked. He added that immigrants, through jobs as nannies and daycare providers, are raising a lot of little children for Americans.
Mr. Hayworth, who is running for Senate against incumbent Sen. John McCain in the Arizona Republican primary, decried what he termed a "massive disinformation campaign" by opponents of the Arizona law, saying it wasn't racist.
To come to this country without authorization "is to break our law," he said.
Mr. Hayworth is trailing Mr. McCain in a Public Policy Polling survey by 11 points, 46% to 35%. However, he leads Mr. McCain, 46% to 38%, among Arizona conservatives who comprise two-thirds of the primary electorate, according to the poll.
Mr. Gutierrez quoted the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, as saying crime was down, making the argument that immigrants are behind many crimes "a red herring."
Write to Alicia Mundy at
[email protected]
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