Minnesota GOP wishes to replicate Arizona law

[Nelson Muntz]

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_e9d7b834-559d-11df-bcfe-001cc4c03286.html

Local Republican lawmakers want to enact immigration legislation similar to a controversial bill recently passed in Arizona, even as thousands of people across the country attended rallies Saturday against the bill.
Critics say the bill amounts to racial profiling because it requires police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally. But Minnesota Reps. Steve Drazkowski and Greg Davids applaud the Arizona bill, saying it addresses a failure in federal enforcement. Drazkowski is drafting a similar state bill he hopes to introduce before the session ends this month.
"We're paying to educate, medicate and incarcerate illegal immigrants," he said. "I think (the Arizona bill) is a great idea. You know, I wish I would have thought of it."
State legislation could stem the growing number of illegal immigrants in Minnesota, especially in the Twin Cities-area, Davids said.
"They cost the state a lot of money," Davids said. "The bill just says we're going to follow the U.S. Constitution, Homeland Security and the laws of the land."
But Arizona's provision has generated backlash from President Barack Obama to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to about 2,500 people at a rally Saturday in Minneapolis. And Republicans concede they'd need more seats in the Legislature before an Arizona-style bill could pass here - Drazkowski said there was virtually no chance his bill would pass this session.
Local DFL lawmakers including Rep. Gene Pelowski and Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes said state lawmakers should focus on balancing the state's budget rather than delving into immigration issues better handled at the federal level. Additionally, illegal immigration in Minnesota is not nearly as large an issue as it is in states such as Arizona, they said.
"I don't think there are a lot of Canadians sneaking in," Pelowski said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.