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Pat Young Responds: “The Arizona Law Doesn’t Create Any New Crime for Being Undocumented”

Posted May 18, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.
Categories: Hate Watch

One of the most frequent comments we have received from those who support Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law is something along the lines of, “Why are you so upset. This bill doesn’t create any new crime. It is already illegal to be here without authorization.”

Were this true, you would have to ask why Arizona went to the trouble to pass the law at all.

First of all, before Gov. Brewer signed SB 1070, there was no law making it a crime to be in Arizona without immigration authorization. SB 1070 made “illegal presence” a crime in that state.

Secondly, there is no crime of “illegal presence” under federal law. There are a variety of immigration-related crimes, true, but simply being here without authorization is a civil violation, not a crime.

So when you hear someone say the bill “doesn’t create any new crime,” you know the person saying it just doesn’t know the law.

Pat Young Responds to Supporters of the Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law is a new series. Here are previous entries:
“The Arizona law was carefully crafted.”

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