[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             ARIZONA CRIME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POLIS. It should be common sense that with the limited dollars we 
have in law enforcement, diverting those law enforcement resources to 
hunt down immigrants detracts from our efforts to combat violent crime. 
However, believe it or not, some supporters of Arizona's new 
immigration law actually claim that it's a crime-fighting measure.
  That overlooks a basic point: Crime rates have already been falling 
in Arizona for years despite, or perhaps in part because of, the 
presence of immigrants. This was once again proven by a recent study 
conducted by America's Voice, which documented the change in violent 
crime levels in various Arizona police jurisdictions from 2002 through 
2009.
  As you can see, crime is down in Arizona, the purple line. In fact, 
the only jurisdiction in the study where crime increased was in the 
part of Maricopa County under the jurisdiction of the incompetent 
sheriff Joe Arpaio, who's famously used anti-immigrant policies to 
advance his political agenda at the expense of keeping his communities 
safe.
  From 2002 to 2009, the crime rate in Maricopa County increased 58 
percent while the State as a whole averaged a 12 percent decrease. 
Compare that 58 percent crime increase to other localities of Arizona 
that did not use the immigrant-bashing approach. In that same time 
period, Phoenix enjoyed a 14 percent decrease in crime; Tempe, a 26 
percent decrease; and Mesa, a 31 percent decrease--communities dealing 
with the same types of immigration issues as Maricopa County and yet 
communities that, during the same period of Sheriff Arpaio's tenure, 
decreased their crime rate.
  Why? In recent years, local law enforcement communities have 
increased, successfully, community policing efforts, which includes 
establishing relationships with immigrant communities to fight crime. 
These efforts are part of the reason why crime is dropping in Arizona. 
And Senate Bill 1070 threatens to undo that process. That's the reason 
the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, the Yuma County Sheriff, 
Mesa Police Chief, and many other law enforcement officials nationally 
are opposed to the new Arizona law, Senate Bill 1070, which will 
stretch local police forces and hinder law enforcement's ability to 
obtain critical information on criminals.
  Anti-immigrant laws like Senate Bill 1070 will lead to a crime wave 
across Arizona and across the Nation, and we see the evidence right 
here in Sheriff Arpaio's own district.
  In my home district of Colorado, the chief of police of Boulder 
County, Chief Pelle, has been an outspoken leader on this front. He's 
criticized the Arizona law because it threatens successful community 
policing efforts that have been implemented in my district and across 
the Nation.
  Misguided laws like Senate Bill 1070 will increase crime. Only 
comprehensive immigration reform can address this issue, and only 
Congress has the power to pass it. We need to pass tough, fair, and 
practical reform that will secure our borders, crack down on employers 
who hire immigrants illegally, require all immigrants here illegally to 
register with the government, pass a security check, pay taxes, and 
learn English.
  I call on Congress to fix our broken immigration system now. No one 
from either side of the aisle thinks that the status quo is working for 
our country. It's time to stop playing politics with an issue that 
should have been addressed long ago. We must pass comprehensive 
immigration reform immediately.

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