House praises Arizona action

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee House on Monday approved a resolution commending Arizona for passing a controversial new law which requires law enforcement to question people they suspect are illegal immigrants and seek proof of citizenship.

Despite warnings from some lawmakers that the Tennessee action could bring problems to the Volunteer State, House members voted 67-25 for House Joint Resolution 1253, sponsored by Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas.

The measure congratulates Arizona lawmakers on their state’s upcoming centennial as a state and but goes on to say the Tennessee General Assembly “also salutes the initiative and the courage of the Arizona State Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer in their actions to protect their citizens and the borders of our great nation.”

House Minority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville, said the resolution represents “some gamesmanship” and warned it has hurt Arizona’s convention business, something he said that Nashville, already reeling from the effects of recent flooding, could ill afford.

“It’s created a real dilemma for that state (Arizona) and my question is why do we want to become engaged in that debate and possibly hurt our state?” Rep. Odom said. “If the sponsor wants to send a message to the state of Arizona, write a letter. ... Why drag the state of Tennessee into a controversial issue?”

But Rep. Carr countered that the gamesmanship was on the part of President Barack Obama, whom the lawmaker accused of falsely raising the issue of racial profiling.

As for the backlash against Arizona, which has led to boycotts and canceled conventions, Rep. Carr said, “that is all the more reason we need to stand with Arizona.”

The resolution, he said, tells Arizona lawmakers “you’re doing the right thing by protecting your citizens.”

Adolfo García, pastor of the Iglesia de Dios, Church of God, in Chattanooga, said, “Personally, looking at the situation (in Arizona), I’m a citizen but I see blatant discrimination and I would never praise that law.”

“I think it sends the wrong message about (Tennessee),” added the Guatemala native who has lived for more than 30 years in the United States.

“We go to other countries to teach about human rights, but yet we don’t respect human rights here,” he said. “I really don’t know what’s happening anymore.”

Juan López, who has lived in Chattanooga for six years, called Arizona’s law “completely racist.”

“As an immigrant, I feel it’s an aggression against the rights, not only of those here illegally, but against human rights in general,” added the 48-year-old Mexico native.

The resolution, he said, sends the message that Tennessee lawmakers are planning to do just the same.

During the debate, Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, told the chamber that “I can’t believe in a time of budget crisis and a disaster of unheard-of proportions, where we’ve got citizens who are homeless and hungry and we’ve had people killed, and yet we’re about to get in the middle of somebody else’s mess.”

House members tabled a motion to rewrite the resolution. The measure now goes over to the Senate for consideration.

A Fox News poll of 900 registered voters last week found 65 percent of those surveyed believe states should have the right to make their own immigration laws and protect their borders “if they believe the federal government has failed to act.”

Thirty-two percent disagreed. A 52 percent majority supported their own state passing a bill similar to Arizona’s new immigration law. The poll, conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corp., had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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