Resist state mandates on illegal immigrants

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, seeks a full commitment by local police to chase illegal immigrants almost as if that’s the missing puzzle piece to resolve our woes as a border state. If lawmakers would just ban what Pearce calls sanctuary policies and “take the handcuffs off” law enforcement, he seems convinced local police will deliver the necessary resources to finally end the scourge of unwelcome border crossers and the hefty burdens they pose on government services.

If Pearce’s strategy sounds even vaguely familiar, it’s because local police have been trapped in a similar campaign against another “scourge” for more than four decades — the so-called war on drugs. Only in the past few years has the public been willing to re-examine the waste of talent and tax dollars that has resulted from an inflexible and impossible expectation to remove every illicit drug from the street.

Pearce held a news conference Wednesday surrounded by political allies to pressure Gov. Jan Brewer into calling a special session on immigration enforcement when the Legislature convenes in January. Just in case fellow lawmakers don’t act on his plans, Pearce said he also will launch an initiative petition drive, Capitol Media Services reported.

Among Pearce’s proposals: declare illegal immigration to be a state crime of trespassing, override the decisions of local communities on how and where to deploy their locally funded police, and make it easier for county prosecutors to force employers suspected of hiring illegal immigrants to hand over personnel files and other private records.

Pearce stood Wednesday with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and pointed to that agency as a model for what local law enforcement should be doing. However, we have noted before that various Valley police agencies are arresting far more illegal immigrants on the street than the sheriff’s office, despite public rhetoric that portrays Arpaio as the only law enforcement leader willing to take a stand.

About 18 months ago, we did urge local police agencies to develop concrete tactics for addressing immigration enforcement. Nearly all have done so, with East Valley agencies focused on identifying and arresting violent felons and not lumping victims into the same group as the criminals who have abused them.

Rather than removing any perceived handcuffs, Pearce’s legislation only would switch who holds the silver key from local voters to state lawmakers who impose new mandates even as assistance from state resources continues to shrink.

Law enforcement strategies are evolving and they can’t finish this mission overnight — no matter what new marching orders might come out of the state Capitol. The governor and those lawmakers who traditionally have been skeptical of expanding the reach of government must resist Pearce’s attempt to rush them into legislation that could be expensive and intrusive while accomplishing relatively little for public safety.