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Babeu criticizes migrant reform bill

By Emilie Eaton Cronkite News Service Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:18 PM

WASHINGTON — In Capitol Hill testimony Thursday, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu dismissed a Senate immigration-reform bill, urging House members to back an alternative plan instead that focuses on law enforcement and gives more authority to local police.

Babeu, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, said the so-called Gang of Eight bill being debated in the Senate does not do enough to secure the border.

“We must secure the border first, prior to any discussion of green cards and a path to citizenship” for the millions of people in this country illegally, he said.

But the alternative plan backed by Babeu, the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act, would open the door to racial profiling by police, opponents said. The bill mimics parts of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 immigration-enforcement law, which was partially overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

Karen Tumlin, of the National Immigration Law Center, testified that the high court ruled states cannot create their own immigration rules, and law-enforcement officers can ask about a person’s legal status only during lawful encounters. The SAFE Act would put too much power in the hands of local law enforcement, she testified.

She also said the bill could criminalize otherwise innocent behavior, making it a crime for someone here legally to drive to the store with a family member who is here illegally.

The committee heard from eight witnesses, most of whom testified in support of the House bill. Witnesses included immigration advocates, police, prosecutors and parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants.

Babeu said as many as 30 percent of the illegal immigrants who were apprehended in the Tucson Sector of the border had a criminal record in the U.S.

The bill “will gave law enforcement and communities the power we need to keep our citizens safe,” Babeu said.

Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake are members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight. They did not respond to a request Thursday for comment on Babeu’s testimony.

Babeu told the House committee that the Gang of Eight bill repeats history, pointing to a 1986 immigration-reform plan that granted amnesty to 2 million immigrants who were in the country illegally but did little to keep others from following in their footsteps.

Some previous articles on Sheriff Paul Babeu and his minions in Pinal County!!!

And here are even some more articles on Sheriff Paul Babeu and his minions in Pinal County!!!