Jewish Groups Oppose Pending Arizona Immigration Law
Three national Jewish groups urged Arizona’s governor to veto a bill that would force local authorities to enforce federal immigration law.
If passed, the bill “would make state and local law enforcement officers’ jobs nearly impossible, and would bring us further from, not closer to, the goal we all share of making our communities safer,” said the letter sent Monday from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to Gov. Jan. Brewer, a Republican. “It would also cause hardship to countless Arizona residents – U.S. citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented immigrants alike – who if this law is passed will live under a cloud of suspicion and fear.”
The legislation, which becomes law unless Brewer vetoes it in the next five days, would require police to ask those suspected of being in the country illegally to produce documentation. It also would ban soliciting work from people on sidewalks if it slows traffic.
Brewer has said she has reservations about the bill, which would be the toughest such measure in the country.
Opponents are concerned that it could lead to racial profiling and inhibit undocumented workers from reporting crime.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
