Immigration Bills Meet Arizona Veto

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed two bills Friday aimed at confronting the state’s immigration problems, rejecting measures that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving child-care assistance and given police the power to enforce federal immigration laws.

The Democratic governor said that the police-powers bill would have provided no additional money for police to fund the new duties, and that it would have cost city officials in Phoenix $19 million.

The other bill would have prohibited illegal immigrants from attending adult education classes, receiving child-care assistance and paying cheaper in-state tuition status at public universities.

“While I agree that public programs should not be available to those who consciously decide to come here illegally, this bill goes too far by punishing even longtime residents of this state who were brought here as small children by their parents,” the governor wrote.

Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants since the federal government tightened enforcement in El Paso and San Diego during the mid-1990s.

Republican Rep. Tom Boone, sponsor of the immigrant-restriction bill, said it was wrong to let immigrant students take advantage of in-state tuition when out-of-state students who are legal citizens must pay more to attend college in Arizona.

“The illegal immigrant has in Governor Napolitano [his or her] best friend in the state,” Boone said.

Supporters of the police-powers bill said state and local law enforcement agencies needed to get rid of “sanctuary policies” that, in some cases, discouraged or prohibited officers from inquiring about a person’s immigration status.

Many police agencies rejected the idea, saying a massive undertaking would detract from the traditional roles police have in protecting communities from crime.

Also Friday, the governor signed into law a bill that barred

local governments from putting any taxpayer money into day

labor centers that helped illegal immigrants find work.