President Barack Obama ratcheted up his criticism of Arizona’s controversial immigration law during a state visit by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon. AP correspondent Julie Pace reports.
“You can imagine, if you are a Hispanic American in Arizona …” the president said Tuesday at a campaign-style appearance in Iowa [see 00:16], “suddenly, if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to be harassed.” On the same day, Attorney General Eric Holder said he was considering a court challenge.
Recently Arizona is three for three defending its immigration management efforts:
In 2008, the state successfully defended its employer-sanctions law, which made it a state crime to knowingly employ an illegal immigrant.
In 2006, officials won a state-court challenge to Arizona’s human smuggling law.
In 2005, Arizona successfully defended Proposition 200 in federal court, which required proof of citizenship for voting and also restricted benefits to illegals.
According to Kris Kobach, law professor and former Bush Justice Department official who helped write the Arizona immigration law, the perfectly mirrors federal law.