State lawmaker blasts Calif. ‘anti-Arizona’ bill
Jul 6, 2012, 12:05 PM | Updated: 12:07 pm
The California Senate has passed a bill that its supporters call the “anti-Arizona” bill and at least one Arizona lawmaker said it’s “anti-America.”
The bill will prevents illegal immigrants from being asked about their immigration status by law enforcement, unless they have been convicted of a felony or violent crime. It could be on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk within weeks.
“Hopefully all of the illegal immigrants in Arizona will go to California and they can pay the price,” said Arizona Republican lawmaker John Kavanagh said. “It’s a bigger problem for America and as long as California is in America they should obey the law.”
California Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said the bill signals to the nation that California cannot afford to be another Arizona.
“California can’t afford to be California anymore,” said Kavanagh.
“The only ones who are hurting this country are [President Obama and California] and any other state that turns its back on enforcing our reasonable immigration laws.”
Recently the Supreme Court upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona’s immigration law Senate Bill 1070 — the requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop.