Recently, Arizona passed a controversial immigration law, SB 1070, that allows the police to detain anyone they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally. SB 1070 also makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $2500 fine for immigrants caught without proper documentation of their immigrant status.

SB 1070 has been heavily criticized by the Hispanic community, the American Civil Liberties Union and even the White House for encouraging racial and ethnic profiling as well as discrimination and harassment of Hispanics living in Arizona, both legally and illegally.

Supporters of the law argue that it is a necessary measure to protect the legal residents of Arizona from the escalating epidemic of crime and violence in the state related to illegal immigration, including Mexican drug cartel crime, human trafficking and drug smuggling. They also point out that the law is nearly identical to current federal laws governing illegal immigration.

When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law, she said that "[b]order violence and crime due to illegal immigration are critically important issues to the people of our state" and that there was "no higher priority than protecting the citizens of Arizona."

Supporters also have argued that Arizona was left with no choice but to pass the tough immigration measure since the federal government had failed to protect Arizona citizens by securing the border and enforcing federal immigration laws.

Statistics Show Decrease in Arizona Crime Rates

While combating the soaring crime rates caused by illegal immigrants has been the main rationale for passing SB 1070, a closer examination of state crime statistics shows that these rates have been severally overstated by supporters of the immigration law. In fact, Arizona currently is experiencing the lowest crime rates it has seen in the last four decades.

According to the FBI, the number of violent crimes reported in Arizona between 2005 and 2008 dropped by almost 1500 while the number of reported property crimes during the same time period decreased by 8000.

Data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) show that the violent crime rates in Arizona from 2006-2008 are the lowest they have been since 1983. In 1998, the rate of violent crime was 577.9 per 100,000. However, according to the Department of Homeland Security, by 2008, this rate had dropped to 477 per 100,000 - despite the fact that Arizona's illegal immigrant population had increased by 70% during this same time.