New Mexico at odds with neighboring Arizona over immigration policy

In the next few months, Arizona will begin to enforce its new immigration law that allows local law enforcement to ask for documentation from people they suspect of being in the country illegally. But its neighbor, New Mexico, vehemently opposes this law and its own House of Representatives has passed a resolution recognizing economic benefits for undocumented immigrants. The rift between the bordering states could make things tricky for law enforcement.

For example, in New Mexico undocumented immigrants can obtain driver’s licenses, which would make it difficult for an Arizona police officer to know the immigration status of a person with a New Mexico ID. The difference in policy by the two neighboring states strikes at the heart of the debate over the need for comprehensive federal immigration policy. If policies in two bordering states are not consistent, how they can be properly enforced?

We talk with Randal Archibold, national correspondent for The New York Times, about the difference in policy.