Locals, Politicians React To New AZ Immigration Law

EL PASO, Texas – Arizona’s governor signed into law a tough new immigration measure Friday, despite criticism from President Obama and even lawmakers in the Borderland.

Protesters in Phoenix, try as they might, couldn’t stop the pen of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer as she signed Senate Bill 1070 into law, making anyone illegally in Arizona fair game for law enforcement.

“We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels…we cannot stand ideally by as flophouses, kidnappings compromise our quality of life,” said Brewer.

The new law requires Arizona police to stop and demand proof of citizenship from anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

Opponents say that’ll only lead to racial profiling, but Brewer, who’s running for reelection, says it won’t.

In the Sun City, Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, had this to say about Arizona’s approach: “There’s got to be a much, much better way to do this.”

El Paso Congressman Silvestre Reyes also made his opposition known, as did New Mexico Democratic Governor Bill Richardson on CNN. “You can’t just take the law into your own hands,” said Richardson.

With criticism and support pouring in from all over the country, we decided to come to downtown El Paso for more opinions.

Rachel Kennedy called the new law “blatant racism”, and said she doesn’t understand how racial profiling can be avoided.

Karen Galarza said she hopes something like that doesn’t happen in Texas, but she already carries her documentation with her at all times.

In the meantime, President Obama has ordered the Justice Department to look into whether the new law is even legal.