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Toughest immigration law in U.S. passed by Arizona lawmakers
The Arizona legislature has passed the toughest immigration law in the U.S. The law would be the first in America to criminalize illegal immigrants.
The law would require, among other things, police officers to ask anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally to produce an “alien registration document,” according to the Detroit Free Press. This part of the law has caused outrage among some.
“Rather than going after human smugglers, drug smugglers, this gives police authority to stop and question people who fail to carry their paperwork,” Alessandra Soler Meetze, an executive of American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, told the news source.
Others, however, support the bill. “People are becoming unduly concerned,” Brian Livingston, executive director of the Arizona Police Association said. “Police are professionals. They know when and in what scenario a determination of immigration status is necessary.”
The bill has yet to be signed by governor Jan Brewer. She has until the end of the week to either sign it into law, veto it or do nothing, which would make it a law. Brewer has not indicated which way she is leaning.
Foreigners don’t need to deal with such laws if they participate in the EB-5 visa program. The program allows foreign nationals to become eligible for their green cards if they invest $1 million in a U.S. business and that investment leads to the creation of 10 jobs.