Arizona Law Triggers Renewed Attention to Immigration Reform

Melissa Apter
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON

Jewish groups are slamming Arizona's stringent new immigration-enforcement law, but are also hoping that outrage over the measure will reignite efforts to push comprehensive immigration reform on a national level.

"I believe that it has absolutely ignited a movement across this country for comprehensive immigration reform," said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), the daughter of Jewish immigrants, who is a co-sponsor of a bill that would provide illegal immigrants with an opportunity to normalize their status. "You see people pouring out of their homes and into the streets and halls of government rejecting this notion of allowing our country to become a police state."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act into law last week, though the measure won't go into effect for 90 days. The new law requires that police check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant, a tactic that civil-liberties groups and several Jewish organizations say effectively mandates racial profiling.

Proponents of the law say the tough measures are necessary -- given the federal government's failure to act -- to rescue the state from a flood of illegal immigrants from Mexico that they say sap taxpayer-funded programs and, in some cases, commit violent crime. They also note that the governor has issued an executive order establishing a training program on how to avoiding racial profiling when implementing the new rules.

On Monday, following a weekend of protests, vandals smeared refried beans in the shape of swastikas on the windows of the Arizona State Capitol buildings, according to the Associated Press. More protests were being planned, including a vigil organized by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.

The new law has been criticized by Jewish groups, including the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a public-policy umbrella group comprised of the synagogue movements, several national groups and scores of local Jewish communities across North America.

Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, who supports legislation like Schakowsky's and that of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), said that he's working actively with other Jewish entities to draft a broad statement condemning the federal government's failure to enact comprehensive reform. HIAS is also coordinating with its partners in Arizona, anticipating that rallies, amicus briefs and other actions may be warranted.

"Are most of the Latinos who suffer from this law Jewish? The answer is no, but we look at this through the oral commandment of 'welcome the stranger,' " stated Aronoff. "We are all Americans, we are all our brothers' keepers. We have an obligation not to stand by when legislation so harmful is put through."

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Jewish Democrat, referred to the bill as one that "nationally embarrasses Arizona" as part of an opinion piece published Saturday in The Washington Post.

"Already, I have called a special meeting of the Phoenix City Council to establish standing to sue the state on the grounds that S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally co-opts our police force to enforce immigration laws that are the rightful jurisdiction of the federal government," wrote Gordon.

Eight of the state's Reform rabbis wrote a letter to Brewer urging the governor to veto the measure, calling it "an affront to American values of justice and our historic status as a nation of immigrants."

And in an editorial, The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix expressed concern that the new law would lead to racial profiling and the questioning of U.S. citizens.