Floridians Financially Support Arizona Immigration Law

When the Obama administration goes to court Thursday against Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law, Mark Benson of Jupiter will have a stake in the outcome.

Not just a political stake, but a monetary one.

Benson is one of hundreds of Floridians who have contributed to a legal defense fund for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer because they support the Arizona law and want a similar statute in Florida.

“When the federal government doesn’t do its duty, then you have to shake it up,” says Benson, 60, who donated $250 to the cause. “I believe it is important to get the federal government to protect our borders.”

The Arizona law, to take effect July 29, is seen by supporters as a way to achieve just that. The statute requires state and local police to ascertain the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason — including traffic infractions — if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that person is in the country illegally. It empowers the officers to arrest persons found in violation of immigration laws.

Opponents have labeled the law racist and say it will be used to specifically target Latinos. The Obama administration has argued that the law violates the Constitution by giving to the state a role in immigration enforcement, a duty that it contends should belong exclusively to federal authorities.

Today, Justice Department attorneys will ask a federal judge in Arizona to grant an injunction blocking implementation of the law. The administration hopes the law will eventually be thrown out altogether.

Florida Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum has filed an amicus brief supporting Arizona in the legal battle. And State Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, has written a similar bill for Florida and will wait to see what happens in the Arizona case before deciding whether to introduce it to the legislature in March.

According to polls, most Americans and Floridians back the Arizona law.

As of July 15, 24,767 people around the country donated $1,149,088 through online donations to the Governor’s Border Security and Immigration Legal Defense Fund. Of those, 1,336 Floridians donated $64,582, placing the state fourth in contributions behind only Arizona, California and Texas.

“I’m proud to be on the list of donors,” said Ronald J. Tiede, 63, an insurance salesman from Lutz in Hillsborough County, who gave $50. “And it has nothing to do with race. It has to do with legality. I grew up in a country of laws. I have disagreed with some of those laws, but I have followed them. Let’s be legal.”

Read more from John Lantigua at the Palm Beach Post