As Arizona Goes, So Goes Maine? [View All]

[Maine-ah]

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http://www.dirigoblue.com/diary/3004/maine-immigration-bill-contains-same-language-as-in-arizonas-sb-1070-bill

Maine Immigration Bill Contains Similar Language as in Arizona's SB 1070

NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.
The law could send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to prison in a way never done before. And it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to private prison companies responsible for housing them.




Rep. Kathy Chase (R-Wells) has sponsored An Act To Enforce Immigration Laws and Restrict Benefits to Legal Citizens (LD1496), which contains, in part, language that is almost identical as that used in Arizona's SB 1070. Compare:

LD1496 would add to existing statute:

17-A MRSA §18.Enforcement of immigration laws

1. If a law enforcement officer is in lawful contact with a person and has a reasonable suspicion that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, the law enforcement officer must make a reasonable attempt, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of that person. The person's immigration status must be verified with the Federal Government pursuant to 8 United States Code, Section 1373(c).

2. An alien who is unlawfully present in the United States and who has been convicted of a violation of state law or a municipal ordinance or has been discharged from imprisonment must be transferred immediately to the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the United States Customs and Border Protection. A law enforcement officer shall securely transport an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States and who is in the custody of the State to a federal facility in this State or to a point of transfer into federal custody that is outside the jurisdiction of the law enforcement officer.


SB 1070 reads:

B. FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).

C. IF AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES IS CONVICTED OF A VIOLATION OF STATE OR LOCAL LAW, ON DISCHARGE FROM IMPRISONMENT OR ASSESSMENT OF ANY FINE THAT IS IMPOSED, THE ALIEN SHALL BE TRANSFERRED IMMEDIATELY TO THE CUSTODY OF THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT OR THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION

It is important to keep in mind some other parallel stories:

* The Corrections Corporation of America gave $25,000 to the RGA Maine 2010 PAC, which worked to elect Paul LePage governor;

* Then Gov.-Elect LePage met with officials from Corrections Corporation of America in December aimed at bringing a private prison to Milo, Maine http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid...

* One of LePage's first acts as governor - indeed, done the day after the inauguration - was to rescind two executive orders from John Baldacci that banned State employees from inquiring about a person's immigration status;

* And Gov. LePage nominated a Corrections Corporation of America employee to head Maine's Department of Corrections.