{"id":16530,"date":"2010-04-27T07:59:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T13:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=16530"},"modified":"2010-04-27T12:23:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-27T18:23:00","slug":"guv-candidates-share-views-on-arizona-immigration-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/04\/guv-candidates-share-views-on-arizona-immigration-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Guv candidates share views on Arizona immigration law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
At an immigration reform rally in Washington.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/naritheole\/<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

NMPolitics.net asked New Mexico\u2019s six candidates for governor what they think of Arizona\u2019s new, controversial immigration law<\/a>. Here\u2019s what they had to say:<\/p>\n

Allen Weh<\/h3>\n

Republican Allen Weh<\/a> said Arizona\u2019s law \u201ccompels us more than ever to enforce existing law, or risk becoming an even bigger magnet for illegal immigrants and criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs governor, I\u2019ll immediately rescind the executive order put in place by the Richardson-Denish administration that bars state police from reporting illegal immigrants that they stop or apprehend,\u201d Weh said. \u201cI\u2019ll also do what it takes to stop issuing driver\u2019s licenses to illegal immigrants,\u00a0because New Mexico has become a portal for illegal immigrants to obtain official documentation that helps them burrow into the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weh also said New Mexico is \u201ccurrently a very weak link in our homeland security, and I will change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susana Martinez<\/h3>\n

Adam Deguire, campaign manager for Republican Susana Martinez<\/a>, said the responsibility to deal with immigration has been left to states because the federal government has failed to adequately address the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSusana Martinez supports the right of any state to ensure the security of its citizens, and today, that means dealing directly with immigration and border concerns,\u201d Deguire said. \u201cIn New Mexico, Martinez believes we must implement fundamental reforms such as revoking driver\u2019s licenses for illegal immigrants, opposing free tuition through taxpayer-funded lottery scholarships for those in the country illegally and end the sanctuary policy that prevents state police from inquiring about the immigration status of criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deguire said Martinez is \u201cthe only candidate with deep experience on immigration issues as her office prosecutes over 600 cases related to border security every year and works with various law enforcement agencies to secure convictions against members of Mexico\u2019s most violent drug cartels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete Domenici Jr.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Republican Pete Domenici Jr.<\/a> said it \u201cmay be possible to tailor appropriate provisions of Arizona\u2019s recent law for New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs governor, I will oppose sanctuary status in New Mexico, will secure our borders, and will enhance law enforcement tools, while recognizing New Mexico\u2019s heritage and protecting individual rights,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026\u00a0Waiting for Congress is not sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diane Denish<\/h3>\n

Democrat Diane Denish<\/a> said it\u2019s clear that \u201cour immigration laws are broken and that we must do more to secure our borders, but racial profiling is wrong – plain and simple – and the new Arizona law goes too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in New Mexico, we value our diversity,\u201d Denish said. \u201cIt\u2019s ingrained in our culture and it strengthens us as a people. While I do believe we must secure our borders and pass a comprehensive national immigration reform bill, we cannot give government a free pass to racially profile and infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens. We\u2019re better than that here in New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janice Arnold-Jones<\/h3>\n

Republican Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> said Arizona\u2019s law \u201cis a state response to federal inability to control our border and enforce federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArizona made violation of federal law a violation of state law, enabling local authorities to act \u2013 an essential step towards securing our borders, addressing narcoterrorism, limiting human trafficking\u00a0and assuring jobs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Doug Turner<\/h3>\n

Republican Doug Turner<\/a> said states \u201care crying for help and looking for answers to stop illegal immigration and the associated gang and drug related crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI oppose components of this bill that may legitimize racial profiling,\u201d Turner said of Arizona\u2019s new law, \u201cbut am optimistic that the law will force the federal government to finally take action on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NMPolitics.net asked New Mexico\u2019s candidates for governor what they think of Arizona\u2019s new, controversial immigration law. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,140,107,116],"class_list":["post-16530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-roundhouse","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}