Major-city police chiefs say law is too divisive
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- About a dozen major-city police chiefs will meet today with Attorney General Eric Holder to oppose the controversial Arizona immigration law that they fear could drive a wedge between the community and local law enforcement.
The police coalition -- including officials from Phoenix, Tucson, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City -- represents the largest group of officers to speak against the measure, set to take effect July 29.
"This law is the culmination of a very broken immigration system," Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said. "It doesn't fix the immigration problem, it only diverts our scarce resources."
"All of us ... are opposed to this," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said, adding that the law will likely discourage witnesses and victims of crimes from cooperating with police. "This bill breaks the trust with our communities."
Five federal lawsuits challenging the law have been filed since Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed the measure last month. Holder is weighing a similar lawsuit on behalf of the federal government.
Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said other law enforcement officials have "expressed their strong support for the new law."
Pinal County, Ariz., Sheriff Paul Babeu, a supporter of the law and president of the Arizona Sheriffs' Association, said his law enforcement colleagues should be "preparing to implement the law" rather than meeting with Holder.
"We wouldn't have to do this if the federal government had done its job," says Babeu, a supporter of the measure.
Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said it is "important" for the attorney general to hear the police officials' concerns.
"Putting local law enforcement in the cross hairs of illegal immigration is just bad business," San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said.
The Arizona law requires local police to determine the immigration status of a person during a stop, detention or arrest if "reasonable suspicion" exists that the person is unlawfully in the U.S.
There are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona, state records show.
Babeu says Holder and President Obama should be "ashamed of themselves" for suggesting that the new law would encourage police to engage in racial profiling.
"Racial profiling is against the law," he says.
BY KEVIN JOHNSON
USA TODAY
