Hispanic House Leaders Urge Pres. Obama to Block Arizona Bill

Arizona’s tough illegal immigration bill hasn’t been signed into law yet by Gov. Jan Brewer, but Hispanic Leaders in the House are urging Pres. Barack Obama to block the bill if she does sign it into law. Led by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the group says that the federal government holds the power when it comes to immigration enforcement.

“The president of the United States should simply say, ‘On the issue of immigration, the Constitution is clear, my power is clear — I’m going to regulate immigration in the United States from a federal level,'” Rep. Gutierrez said.

On Monday, the Arizona Senate offered its final seal of approval on the bill passed by the State House late last week. The Senate passed a similar version earlier in the year. The bill, if signed into law by Gov. Brewer, would make it a crime to be illegally present in the state of Arizona. It also cracks down on day laborers and the transportation of illegal aliens.

Rep. Gutierrez, who helped draft the House mass amnesty bill, H.R.4321 (C.I.R.A.S.A.P.), also criticized Pres. Obama for not pushing Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on their amnesty bill in the Senate. Rep. Gutierrez went as far as saying that he would urge Hispanic voters not to show up at the polls in the fall if there wasn’t a vote on immigration reform.

“We can stay home,” Gutierrez said in an interview with The Hill. “We can say, ‘You know what? There is a third option: We can refuse to participate.’ ”

For more information, see the Miami Herald.