What This Arizona Senator Is Doing to Tackle Controversial Immigration Law

Plus two other important things that made the news this week.

This Arizona senator is taking on the state’s controversial immigration Senate Bill 1070 for the seventh time

On Tuesday, State Senator Martin Quezada introduced a proposal to remove Arizona’s controversial immigration bill SB 1070. The law, passed in April 2010, is what the Senator calls an “anti-immigrant bill.”

SB 1070 – signed into law by former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer – consisted of anti-immigration measures that sought to do the following:

• allow police to ask for immigration papers of a person stopped for other reasons besides immigration violations;
• arrest a person without a warrant if suspected of committing a deportable offense;
• made it a state crime for legal immigrants to fail to carry registration papers; and
• made it a state crime for undocumented people to solicit work.

The bill drew national outrage, which led to a lawsuit against the state by American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrants’ rights groups. However, conservative lawmakers locally and across the nation touted the law as necessary.

In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down three out of four measures of the bill; however, the key measure that allows law enforcement to check the immigration status of people they encounter if there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is in the country illegally remains in place.

On Tuesday, Quezada tweeted, “ One of the darkest/most shameful moments of AZ history was the passage of #SB1070. However that created a movement of Latino, immigrant & progressive political activism that turned AZ purple & got me elected. Today I introduced #SB1071 to repeal the remnants of that law.”

This is Quezada’s seventh attempt to repeal SB 1070 entirely. 

Family of Arizona man killed in Kenya to hold Celebration of Life

This week, the family of 47-year-old Dustin Harrison, an Arizona man killed in a terror attack in Kenya on January 3, announced they will hold a Celebration of Life service.

According to KGUN 9, Harrison – a Gilbert pilot – had been in Kenya for two months, and was expected to return home the week of January 13. He is survived by his wife and two-year-old daughter.

The Celebration of Life for Harrison will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, at St. Augustine Cathedral Church, 192 S. Stone Ave., in Tucson.

In a social media post, Harrison’s wife Hope wrote, “Thank you again everyone for your continued prayers, love and support. I cannot begin to express how blessed we are. Open to anyone who would like to come and pay their respects to our Hero.”

Macy’s call center closure hits 800 Arizonans

This week, Macy’s announced the closing of 30 stores in early 2020, including the company’s Tempe call center, which will close in early February. The closure will affect 800 employees.

“After careful consideration, the Macy’s Credit and Customer Services (MCCS) West – Tempe, AZ location will close in early February,” a Macy’s spokeswoman told AZFamily in a statement.

Macy’s officials said the company will be moving its operations to Florida and Ohio, and will transfer some workers to one of the local Macy’s stores or to its distribution center in Goodyear. Other workers will receive a severance.