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Drop in legal Mexican visitors hurts southern Arizona

By Dennis Wagner, USA Today

 

NOGALES, Ariz. — The number of legal visitors entering Arizona from Mexico has plummeted amid the controversy of increased enforcement of state immigration laws.

 

Total cross-border visits into Arizona in the months after Gov. Jan Brewer signed the immigration enforcement law in April have fallen 17% compared with the same period in 2009, according to Customs and Border Protection data. The drop-off amounts to about 12,500 fewer people daily, the data show.

 

Four days after Brewer, a Republican, signed the illegal-immigration enforcement law, Mexico issued a warning to its citizens about travel into Arizona.

 

Across the entire Southwest border during that same time frame, where that law has not been an issue, lawful entries by land from Mexico fell by less than 7%, according to the data.

 

Erik Lee, associate director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, said reduced tourism can be blamed on "a little bit of everything," but the net result is a big financial hit. "Southern Arizona's economy really depends on the relentless Mexican shoppers," he said.

 

The drop in tourism has been a trend for several years. In fiscal 2007-08, according to Customs and Border Protection data, nearly 209 million people came into the U.S. legally via land ports from Mexico. That number dropped 10% last year — even before Arizona's immigration-law controversy.

 

A study issued in January by the University of Arizona's Economic and Business Research Center says the more than 24 million legal visitors who visited the state in 2007-08 spent about $2.7 billion at stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. "Almost 23,400 wage-and-salary jobs in Arizona are directly attributable to Mexican visitor spending," the report says.

 

Tucson and Pima County, Ariz., are listed as the greatest beneficiaries, with $1 billion in annual receipts from Mexican visitors, that study showed. Phoenix and Maricopa County ranked second, with $694 million.

 

Ernesto Chavez runs a stationery store on Morley Avenue, a border shopping district in Nogales that caters to customers from Mexico. He says business is down 70%, the worst in the 50 years he has been at the location.

 

Although Chavez primarily blames the recession, he said Arizona politicians compounded problems. Across the street, Noemi Lee, co-owner of Casa Noemi, said business at her apparel store dropped mostly because of longer waits at entry points and the new law. "The people just don't come anymore. They believe there is discrimination. They're angry," she said.

 

Wagner reports for The Arizona Republic.

Arizona Immigration Law: Key Parts Stuck Down by Judge

By Alia Beard Rau - AZCentral.com,
Jul. 28, 2010 10:26 AM

 

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton has issued a preliminary injunction preventing several sections of Arizona's new immigration law from becoming law, at least until the courts have a chance to hear the full case.

 

Key parts of Senate Bill 1070 that will not go into effect Thursday:

• The portion of the law that requires an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.




• The portion that creates a crime of failure to apply for or carry "alien-registration papers."




• The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work. (This does not include the section on day laborers.)




• The portion that allows for a warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe they have committed a public offense that makes them removable from the United States.

 

The ruling says that law enforcement still must enforce federal immigration laws to the fullest extent of the law when SB 1070 goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Individuals will still be able to sue an agency if they adopt a policy that restricts such enforcement.

 

Bolton did not halt the part of the law that creates misdemeanors crimes for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.

 

Bolton's ruling followed hearings on three of seven federal lawsuits challenging SB 1070. Plaintiffs include the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union, Phoenix and Tucson police officers, municipalities, illegal immigrants and non-profit groups.

 

She denied legal requests by Gov. Jan Brewer, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and several other defendants seeking to have the lawsuits dismissed because, they argued, the plaintiffs did not prove that they would be harmed by the law if it went into effect.

 

Next, hearings will be scheduled to begin hearing the full case in the seven lawsuits. All or some of the suits could be consolidated. A full court hearing is likely to involve appeals, possibly as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, and could take several years.

 

Gov. Jan Brewer is in Tucson and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fact or fiction? The myths and realities of illegal immigration

By Lee Davidson, Desert News 

 

Maybe you've heard the debates on talk radio or seen the e-mail blasts, arriving with increasing urgency as people take sides over Arizona's new immigration law.

 

You can hardly turn on your computer without tripping over statistics like these: "Every day, illegal aliens murder 12 Americans" and "$200 billion a year in suppressed American wages are caused by illegal aliens."

 

Or you may have heard some of these claims: "Illegal immigrants cause most of the crime and drug problems here. They don't pay taxes. They crowd our schools."

 

With immigration reform on the horizon, the Deseret News set out to see if we could confirm or debunk what's being said. Try to get to the bottom of the data, though, and you often find yourself going in circles, finding figures quoted and requoted with no actual source. There are conflicting studies that lump together illegal and legal immigrants without distinguishing between the two. There are reports with outdated numbers and sometimes no real numbers at all. There are government reports, academic studies and statements by groups that have a clear agenda, either for or against illegal immigrants. The claims can inflame the debate, even though many make no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants and aim vitriol at anyone of Hispanic descent. Others have little to no basis in reality. And yet, some of the claims and statistics regarding immigration are driving the push for reform and could end up influencing legislation and the fate of tens of thousands of Utahns and millions of Americans.

 

So how much of what is being said is fact, and how much is fiction?

 

Here's what we found.

 

WHAT YOU HEAR: Illegal immigrants cause most local crime, crowding prisons.

 

WHAT WE FOUND: A just-completed study seems to refute that and show how wrong perceptions by whites can be. It was conducted by the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity and looked at crime by all Hispanics in Salt Lake City over five years. It did not single out those who are illegal immigrants.

 

That study found that whites thought Latinos caused about half of local drug crime. In reality, they caused 27 percent, less than expected, given they account for 28 percent of the city's population. It did not single out those who are here illegally.

 

Whites also thought Latinos caused about half of all violent crime. Data showed that they actually caused about 26 percent of it.

 

Whites blamed Latinos for just over a third of all identity theft, figuring illegals use stolen Social Security numbers to work. The study said Latinos are responsible for 17 percent of identity theft.

 

Click here to read the entire story from Deseret News... 

 

May 2010 and Mexico's New Immigration Procedures

By Andrea Julian

 

Out with the old, in with the new.  Mexico has adopted a new set of immigration laws as of May 2010 that are making it easier for foreigners to obtain permanent residency status.  This is great news for those who have lived in Mexico for years, doing the every six-month border run process, and who want to be done with it once and for all.  If you are planning on spending more than six months out of each year in Mexico, apply for your FM 3, it's easy to get and makes life in Mexico a whole lot easier.

 

What is an FM 3 and how does it differ from the regular tourist visa, an FMM? 
An FMM only allows you to stay in Mexico for up to six months at one time.  After six months, you must leave the country for up to 72 hours or visit the nearest INM office to explain your circumstances and apply for an extension.  In order to negate this lengthy paper work, and perhaps cut down on illegal bribes that foreigners often pay to border officials for extensions, the government of Mexico is making it easier for foreigners to receive an FM 3, which is a permanent residency card that allows holders many rights and privileges of a regular Mexican national.

 

One of the downfalls of coming into Mexico on an FMM is that if you are driving you are not allowed to keep your car in Mexico for over six months without returning to the border for a permit extension.  With an FM 3, you are allowed to import your vehicle free of charge and there is no time limit on how long it can stay in Mexico with you. However, you will still need your Mexican insurance, which can be purchased online or at the border before entering Mexico.  In addition, you can enter and exit Mexico as many times as you want with an FM 3.  You must extend the FM 3 once a year at the immigration office nearest you, but there is no limit on how many extensions you can get.

 

If you want to get an FM 3, there are two ways to go about doing it. 
One is to contact an immigration lawyer.  The other is to gather the necessary paperwork and head down to the INM office nearest you.  You can also now apply online at: www.inm.gob.mx/EN/index.php, however this is a brand new system and still has some kinks, so be prepared to encounter inconsistencies.  Here is the paperwork you will need to have in order to apply for an FM 3 whether you apply online, in person or with a legal service:

 

1. Copies of your bank statements for the past three months or other proof that you have a stable income of at least $1,000 a month.
2. Proof of residency in Mexico.  If you own your own home, you can bring in copies of your electric and telephone bills in your name.  If not, you can go down to the Municipal in your town and have them issue you a proof of residency.  The cost for this is around 50 pesos.
3. Copies of your passport and at least 4 passport sized photos.
4. Plan on spending about $100 U.S. for your FM 3.

 

The new immigration procedures that are done online require a letter of intent written in Spanish and do require some specific legal phrasing.  If you are not proficient in Spanish or are confused with the INM site, do yourself a favor and hire a legal service that specializes in immigration procedures. 

 

However you choose to obtain your FM 3, it is highly advised that you do so. It is the simplest way to live in Mexico, free and clear, for as often and long as you please.

 

Mexico’s Calderon Criticizes Arizona Immigration Law

By The Associated Press

 

Mexican President Felipe Calderon took his opposition to a new Arizona immigration law to Congress Thursday, saying it "ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree."

 

Calderon's comments on the Arizona law and his request that Congress do something about the availability of high-powered weapons along the border drew criticism from several lawmakers saying he was interfering in U.S. internal matters.

 

The Mexican leader also told lawmakers reluctant to take up the immigration issue this year that comprehensive immigration reform is crucial to securing the two countries' common border.

 

Calderon, the first foreign national leader to address Congress this year, said he strongly disagrees with the Arizona law that requires police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

 

"It is a law that not only ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree but also introduces a terrible idea using racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement," he said to cheers, mainly from the Democratic side of the chamber.

 

Speaking in English, he warned of the risk when "core values we all care about are breached."

 

Arizona's senior Republican senator, John McCain was not present at the joint meeting, while the office of Jon Kyl, the other Arizona senator, did not respond immediately to inquiries about whether Kyl was present. McCain attended a lunch with Calderon at the State Department Wednesday.

 

McCain issued a statement that it was "unfortunate and disappointing the president of Mexico chose to criticize the state of Arizona by weighing in on a U.S. domestic policy issue during a trip that was meant to reaffirm the unique relationship between our two countries."

 

And broaching another highly sensitive issue, Calderon urged Congress to restore a ban on assault weapons, saying easy access to high-powered weapons is contributing to drug-related violence along the border.

 

Calderon also took up the Arizona law in a meeting Wednesday with President Barack Obama, who referred to the law as a "misdirected expression of frustration."

 

The Mexican leader said his country was doing its best, by promoting more jobs and opportunities at home, to reduce the flow of immigrants to the United States.

But he stressed the "need to fix a broken and inefficient system ... the time has come to reduce the causes of migration and to turn this phenomenon into a legal, ordered and secure flow of workers and visitors."

 

Obama is pressing lawmakers to take up legislation that would deal with border security, employment and citizenship. It is questionable whether Congress, in an election year, has an inclination to tackle such a highly sensitive issue.

 

Calderon also got a standing ovation from Democrats when he asked the United States to stop the flow of assualt weapons and other arms across the border and reinstate the ban on many assault weapons that was enacted in 1994 but allowed to expire during the George W. Bush presidency.

 

He said there are more than 7,000 gun shops along the border where almost anyone can purchase weapons.

 

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said it was inappropriate for Calderon to lecture Americans on state and local law. He defended the Arizona law and added: "moreover, the Second Amendment is not a subject open for diplomatic negotiation, with Mexico or any other nation."

 

Calderon led off his 40-minute speech by emphasizing Mexico's war against narcotics traffickers that has left roughly 23,000 dead since the end of 2006.

 

But he added that "we cannot ignore the fact that the challenge to our security has roots on both sides of the border." He cited a statement from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that, At the end of the day, it is high demand for drugs in the United States and elsewhere that drives much of the illicit trade.

 

Also attending the speech were Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

 

Democrats gave Calderon a rousing cheer when he said Mexico planned to have universal health care by 2012 and said that would be one less reason for Mexicans to migrate to the United States. He got smiles and applause from Republicans, as well as Democrats, when he said that in Mexico's efforts to recover from the recession no taxpayer money went to bail out banks.

 

Calderon broke into Spanish briefly to address Mexicans now living in the United States, saying Mexicans admire and miss them and are working to protect their rights.

 

In U.S. Visit, Mexican President to Discuss Drug War, Immigration

By William Booth, The Washington Post

 

MEXICO CITY -- President Felipe Calderón arrives in Washington this week for a two-day state visit that was supposed to be a celebration of U.S.-Mexican cooperation in his drug war. Instead, it is likely to showcase Mexico's frustration over Arizona's tough new immigration law, which Calderón has described as anti-Mexican.

 

The legislation's passage has put the hot-button issue of illegal immigration on the bilateral agenda. It requires police enforcing another law to question a person's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States illegally.

 

At home, Calderón -- who is usually cautious, lawyerly and scripted in his public remarks -- speaks daily about the fight against the drug cartels but rarely about immigration, although roughly 10 percent of Mexico's population lives in the United States.

 

He has been frank in his condemnation of the Arizona law, however, saying it "opens the door to intolerance, hate, discrimination and abuse in law enforcement" and noting that the U.S. economy was built with a lot of Mexican sweat, legal and not.

 

In remarks to Spain's El Pais newspaper Friday, he asserted that the law is creating tensions between the two countries.

 

In Mexico, the political class from right to left has closed ranks to deplore the Arizona measure, which has dominated front pages and TV news here. Elected officials from the three major parties are exhorting Calderón to challenge it in Washington, where on Wednesday he will be greeted with pomp and ceremony at the White House and feted with high-end Mexican fusion food at a state dinner, and will address a joint session of Congress.

 

But the atmosphere might be a little strained.

 

Soon after Arizona's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed the measure last month, Mexico issued a rare "travel advisory" to its citizens warning them of possible harassment in the state.

 

The governors of the six northern Mexican states that share a border with the United States have denounced the law and said they would boycott an upcoming conference of governors in Phoenix.

 

The Mexican Embassy in Washington is preparing amicus briefs to support lawsuits by civil rights groups seeking repeal of the measure. The head of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission declared the law "xenophobic." Mexican universities said they would suspend student-exchange programs involving Arizona. And cartoonists here have had a field day depicting an Arizona without Mexicans, where U.S. citizens are forced to cook their own food, cut their lawns, pick their crops and care for their children.

 

"So, yes, we don't like this law," Mexico's interior secretary, Fernando Gómez-Mont, said at a forum in Washington this month.

 

The drug issue

There are an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona, most of them from Mexico. Mexican migrants, legal and otherwise, sent home more than $20 billion last year, the second leading source of legitimate foreign income in the country after oil sales. Illegal drug sales may account for as much as $25 billion.

 

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, who worked for six months to arrange the state visit for Calderón, has sought to calm emotions, repeating at every opportunity that President Obama and his administration consider the Arizona measure "misdirected" and are exploring legal challenges.

 

A former Mexican foreign minister, Jorge Castañeda, now a professor at New York University, has described the law as "stupid but useful," meaning that it may help create momentum for federal immigration reform.

 

The law also appears to be feeding Mexican frustration -- usually expressed off the record -- that the United States is not doing enough in the drug war. Mexican officials are complaining more openly that authorities here are under grenade attack by drug-smuggling syndicates while pot pharmacies in Los Angeles sell bags of marijuana to so-called patients.

 

Authority figures in Mexico are coming under increasing assault. This weekend, a former presidential candidate mysteriously disappeared, and police think that kidnappers or drug gangs may be responsible. Diego Fernández de Cevallos, a power broker in Calderón's political party, went missing in the central state of Queretaro near his ranch, leaving behind an empty car and few clues.

 

Under the Merida Initiative aid package, U.S. taxpayers have contributed $1.3 billion to the fight, money that pays for Black Hawk helicopters, night-vision goggles and armored cars and trains for Mexican police officers and judges. Obama wants to continue the aid initiative and has asked for $310 million for Mexico in 2011.

 

Calderón, who has described his northern neighbors as "the biggest consumers of drugs in the world," said last week that the binational struggle against drug trafficking will still be at the center of discussions in Washington.

 

"The president has to say something about the Arizona law in his speech, but he is really speaking more to Mexicans," said Raúl Benítez Manaut, an expert in national security issues and immigration at the Autonomous University of Mexico. "He also will be careful not to upset the Republicans in Congress, whom he needs to continue the fight against the cartels."

 

Systemic corruption

At home, Calderón has complained that billions of dollars in drug profits empower the cartels while the United States, with its freewheeling gun market, is the source of most of the weapons smuggled into Mexico.

 

More than 22,700 people have died in drug-related violence since Calderón declared war against the cartels in December 2006 and sent the first of 50,000 Mexican troops into the streets.

 

U.S. officials might push back, however. Although they have publicly applauded Calderón's courage in attacking the cartels, the fight has revealed systemic corruption in Mexico.

 

The latest shock was the discovery of a pile of documents that the government seized from an associate of Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The stash included lists of Mexican federal agents, their names and numbers, and references to intelligence shared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 

 

Hillary Clinton Migrates Into Arizona Law Controversy

By Alicia Mundy, The Wall Street Journal

 

In blunt comments during the Sunday talk show fest, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton equated Arizona’s new immigration law with racial profiling. Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether she thought the law “invites profiling, racial profiling,” Clinton responded: “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

 

“Clearly, as I understand the way the law is being explained, if you’re a legal resident, you still have to carry papers,” she said. “Well, how is a law enforcement official supposed to know” whether someone might be an illegal visitor, she asked.

 

The topic was raised in the context of Mexico’s new travel alert to its residents and citizens, which criticizes the “negative” political environment for immigrants, due to the new law. “It must be assumed that every Mexican citizen may be harassed and questioned without further cause at any time,” Mexico’s foreign ministry warned last week. 

 

Arizona last month enacted a law that makes it a crime to be present in the state without legal immigration status, and authorizes police to question people suspected to be illegal immigrants about their status.

 

The law has become a lightning rod for immigration advocates, who rallied in cities across the country on Saturday, urging Congress to pass legislation overhauling immigration policy.

 

Clinton said that although there were legitimate concerns about securing the borders, the state of Arizona didn’t have the authority to usurp federal immigration laws and impose its own.

 

The new law poses some delicate diplomatic issues for Mexico President Felipe Calderon’s upcoming state visit with President Barack Obama. The two sides have been working to combat violent drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

“We don’t want to make his life any harder,” Clinton said. 

 

On Sunday, Calderon, visiting Germany, called the Arizona law “racist discrimination” and a “threat” to immigrants and to the whole Hispanic-American population, according to the Associated Press. 

 

Arizona Law Puts Immigration on American's Minds

by CBS News

 

(CBS) Agree with it or loathe it, everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Arizona's immigration legislation.

 

"It's stupid," said Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County, Arizona. "And it's racist."

 

San Francisco's mayor just banned official travel to Arizona. City councils in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles are considering similar measures, reports CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.

 

"We want them to be the last state that does this," says Los Angeles City councilwoman Janice Hahn.

 

At the same time, a flurry of editorials are thanking Arizona for putting the immigration issue on the nation's front burner for the first time since 2007, when a major bipartisan reform bill backed by President Bush went down in flames.

 

"We're at this point because of the inability and the timid attitude about dealing with comprehensive reform at a national level," said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

 

On Wednesday a group of House Democrats called on Senate leaders to revive languishing immigration legislation.

 

"The words 'show me your papers' we've known from movies of World War II coming out of the mouth of a Nazi," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.

 

The bill being crafted by Sen. Chuck Schumer and others would step up patrols on the border, and then allow some illegal immigrants to get in line to become U.S. residents.

 

But it's running up against the reality of this summer's packed legislative calendar, which includes financial reform and Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

 

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., dialed back expectations he raised recently that immigration reform might move to the top of the agenda.

 

"It's obvious that we have an Energy bill that's ahead of the Immigration bill," said the Senate majority leader. "It's just the way things work around here."

 

"What Democrats are trying to do is show that they are willing," said CBS News political analyst John Dickerson. "That they want to tackle the issue so that they can say to Hispanic voters, 'on this issue that you care about, we're fighting for you.'" 

 

Mexpro.com May 2010 Mexican Auto Insurance Newsletter

May 4, 2010 Flagstaff, Arizona

Mexpro.com Releases May 2010 Mexican Auto Insurance Newsletter

 

In the May 2010 newsletter Mexpro.com talks about the increases in tourism to Mexico experienced during spring break this year, the controversial Arizona immigration bill - SB1070 and Immigration Reform legislation. You will also learn about our Domestic USA Specialty Insurance Division, which includes USA coverage for Vacant and Rental Dwellings, RVs, Travel Trailers, Manufactured Homes, Watercraft and Motorcycle Insurance.

 

Click here to read the Mexican Auto Insurance May 2010 Newsletter. 

 

2 Arizona City Councils Vote to Sue Over New Law SB1070

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. May 5, 2010, 11:33 am ET

 

The Tucson and Flagstaff city councils voted Tuesday to sue Arizona over its tough new immigration law, citing concerns about enforcement costs and negative effects on the state's tourism industry.

 

They are the first municipalities in Arizona to approve legal challenges to the law. Earlier this week, proposed litigation in Phoenix took a hit when the city attorney said Mayor Phil Gordon lacks the authority to file suit without the support of the City Council.

 

The new state law requires local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they're in the country illegally.

 

The Flagstaff City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution that says it's an unfunded mandate to carry out the responsibilities of the federal government. Its Tuesday night meeting drew a crowd that initially numbered in the hundreds but dwindled significantly as the night wore on.

 

The council will retain legal counsel and could either pursue its own lawsuit or join Tuscon or other cities in efforts to fight the immigration bill.

 

It also is considering setting up a legal defense fund to which many in the audience said they would contribute.

 

"This new bill has the power to make a criminal out of me for helping my family and friends," said Flagstaff resident Loretta Velasco. "I will not turn my back on them, so whatever I can do, I will do."

 

The few who spoke in favor of the immigration measure urged the council to let someone else bear the cost of fighting it, and said the law had nothing to do with racial profiling.

 

Roger Boone said most people agree the immigration system is broken but a "race to the courts" is irresponsible.

 

"If Tucson is saying in a 5-1 vote it is filing, let them spend their money," he said.

 

Flagstaff is struggling with a $12.8 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, and city staff has been cut by 14 percent, including the loss of 13 police positions.

 

Mayor Sara Presler said she realizes each lawsuit Flagstaff faces for either enforcing or failing to enforce the immigration measure could cost the city in roads, police officers or staff. But she said it's better to be proactive than reactive.

 

Earlier Tuesday, the Tucson City Council approved a resolution to sue the state, with Councilman Steve Kozachik casting the lone no vote, The Arizona Daily Star newspaper reported.

 

Kozachik said he agrees the law is flawed but thinks Arizona needs to "de-escalate the conversation" and filing a lawsuit is not the way.

 

Other council members argued the cost to enforce the new immigration law will be overly excessive.

 

Mayor Bob Walkup said the law is based on a misguided notion that illegal immigrants are bad for the area's quality of life and economy. He said much of Tucson's economy is derived from Mexican tourists who come to vacation and shop, the Star reported.

 

In Phoenix, the mayor had said he would proceed with a legal challenge to the law after failing to gather enough support from the City Council. But a legal opinion issued Monday by Phoenix City Attorney Gary Verburg said only the City Council has the power to authorize lawsuits.

 

Four lawsuits challenging the law were filed last week by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, a Washington-based researcher who plans to visit Arizona and two police officers, one from Phoenix and the other from Tucson. The officers filed the lawsuit as individuals and weren't challenging the law on behalf of their employers.