April 26, 2010 (AP) PHOENIX – Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama Friday and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation's busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico.
The legislation ... requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants ... and makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.
With hundreds of protesters outside the state Capitol shouting that the bill would lead to civil rights abuses, Brewer said that she wouldn't tolerate racial profiling. Earlier Friday, Obama called the Arizona bill "misguided" and instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it's legal.
"It's going to change our lives," said Emilio Almodovar, a 13-year-old American citizen from Phoenix. "We can't walk to school any more. We can't be in the streets anymore without the pigs thinking we're illegal immigrants."
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund said it plans a legal challenge to the law, arguing it "launches Arizona into a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust ... with nationwide repercussions."
I created this as an avatar and also something that can be printed and worn like a nametag as a conversation starter.
Q - "What does that mean?"
A - "I'm wearing this to protest the new AZ law that will require cops to check papers of anyone they suspect may be illegal. It reminds me of Nazi Germany and the way Jews and homosexuals were treated. They say this won't lead to racial profiling but that's ridiculous."
