This puts the Dem governor in a bind. If she signs the bill, the pro-illegal alien crowd will want her head, and if she vetoes it, regardless of how many letters from sheriffs she might get, she'll appear weak on illegal immigration. I'm guessing she'll veto it and try to make it sound like the problem is in the funding, rather than the law itself. Captain Ed agrees:Two days after a big immigration march in Phoenix, the Arizona Legislature on Wednesday approved legislation to make illegal immigrants subject to the state's criminal trespassing law.
The Senate approved the bill on a 17-12 vote and the House followed with a 33-27 vote, with both Republican-led chambers voting nearly along party lines.
Supporters of the bill contend it would provide "a second line of defense" behind the border patrol by enabling state and local law enforcement officers to arrest illegal immigrants. ...
The bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. She declined to say Wednesday what she'll do with it, but her office later released letters from 12 law enforcement groups and officials, including sheriffs in three border counties, urging her to veto the bill.
The bill "represents an enormous unfunded obligation for state, county and local law enforcement," Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada wrote.
Expect Napolitano to veto the legislation. The GOP will not have the votes required to overturn the veto, but the positions will finally be made clear, and Arizona voters will know where Napolitano truly stands on border enforcement. Proposition 200, which required proof of citizenship for voting and applying for public benefits, passed 56-44 in 2004, demonstrating that Arizona wants better control over the border and illegal immigration. Napolitano's veto will put her on the wrong side of that divide just in time for her re-election campaign. She leads in early polling, but that may well come to an end with this decision.
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