Arizona’s ‘Safe Neighborhoods’ bill signed into law

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer followed tough words with tough action when she signed the “Safe Neighborhoods” bill into law on Friday. State House Bill 1070 is considered to be the nation’s strictest law against illegal immigration. Among other changes, the bill requires all immigrants to carry proper identification at all times and broadens the power of local police to detain anybody suspected of immigration violations. State and local leaders who support the bill praise its sweeping reforms and cite the state’s violent crime rate as reason alone for strict measures. On the other side of the debate, activists and lawmakers, including President Obama, have called the bill a “misguided” attack on the “basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.”

To get a sense of the debate the bill has already inspired, not 72 hours after being signed, we speak with Randy Archibold, national correspondent for our partner The New York Times. We also turn to Valeria Fernandez, a reporter with Feet in Two Worlds, a project of the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School.