Illegal Immigrant Supporters React to Shooting of Cop

Immigrant rights supporters said Monday that, because an illegal immigrant was accused in the shooting of another Phoenix police officer, did not mean Hispanic illegal immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.

Just look at the ratio of non-illegal, non-Hispanic persons who have come after police, who have harmed policemen. you are going to see it's a high proportion of non-Hispanic as compared to Hispanic," said Frank Valenzuela, head of the Arizona National Latino Police Officers Association.

Valenzuela said one Latino officer told him he's afraid he could be profiled by other officers.

"He can be stopped after being profiled by another police officer because he looks like he's Hispanic and he could be an undocumented worker," Valenzuela said.

He said enforcing immigration laws is an issue for federal officers, not local police.

Valenzuela's comments came after Jose Abel Cabrera, 35, who police said is an illegal immigrant who previously had been deported, was arrested as a suspect in the shooting of a rookie officer during a traffic stop Sunday night. The bullet hit the officer's bullet-proof vest, and he was not seriously injured.