Ariz. Senate panel approves immigration bill
http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11852293
PHOENIX (AP) – An Arizona Senate panel has approved a sweeping bill to strengthen immigration enforcement.
The measure passed the Republican-controlled Public Safety and Human Services Committee Wednesday on a 4-3 party-line vote.
It would ban police departments from adopting policies that prevent officers from asking people about their immigration status.
The bill also would make it a state crime to be in Arizona illegally or to transport or conceal an illegal immigrant. And it seeks to curb day-labor employment by making it illegal for an illegal immigrant to solicit work in a public place or for anyone to hire someone from a vehicle.
Mesa Republican Russell Pearce is sponsoring the measure. A similar bill passed the Senate last year but failed in the House.
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