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ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE RESPONDS TO 1997 ALIEN ROUNDUP
In the summer of 1997, federal, state and local law enforcement officials engaged in a widespread roundup operation designed to target illegal immigrants in Chandler, Arizona. The operation caused an uproar in the community and drew national attention. In targeting people on the basis of their appearance, officials stopped and interrogated many legal immigrants as well as a number of U.S. citizens. The disappointing results of the project are blamed in large part on the failure to properly train local law enforcement on dealing with immigration enforcement.
House Bill 2611 sponsored by many Democrats in the Arizona legislature, is a response to the incident. The bill would require cities and counties to train local law enforcement officials in working with the Border Patrol and to develop a set of procedures for such cooperation.
A similar bill introduced last year failed to even get a hearing, and the sponsors of this year's bill admit the measure faces an uphill battle. They acknowledge that even if the bill is successful, the scope of issues covered will likely not be as broad as they would like. Ramon Gomez of the Arizona Civil Rights Movement believes the bill is a wasted effort, because no amount of legislation can change the discriminatory manner in which local law enforcement treat Hispanics. He believes immigration "should be a federal issue and a federal issue only."