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Holder hasn't read Ariz. immigration bill
by Josh Gerstein
In television interviews over the weekend, Attorney General Eric Holder warned that Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law could lead to racial profiling and might prompt Latinos to stop cooperating with police. However, it emerged at a House hearing Thursday that Holder hasn't actually read the statute.
"I have not had a chance to.
I've glanced at it. I have not read it," Holder acknowledged in response to questions from Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas).
"It's ten pages. It's a lot shorter than the health care bill, which was 2,000 pages long. I'll give you my copy of it, if you would like to -- to have a copy," Poe quipped during the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.
The Arizona law passed last month calls for checks on individuals' immigration status after any "lawful contact" with police if there is reasonable suspicion they're not legally in the country. President Barack Obama, Holder and other administration officials have expressed concern that the law could lead to Americans of Hispanic descent being stopped by police. Latino groups are organizing boycotts of the state.
"The concern I have about the law that they have passed is that I think it has the possibility of leading to racial profiling and putting a wedge between law enforcement and a community that would, in fact, be profiled," Holder said Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press." "People in that community are less likely then to cooperate with people in law enforcement, less likely to share information, less likely to be witnesses in a case that law enforcement is trying to solve."
Holder said Thursday he's asked a team of advisers from Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to review the law for him. He said he expects to issue a pronouncement on the Arizona law "relatively soon."
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