SB1070 Update: Asylum seekers could be in trouble

by David Safier

I thought I'd heard or thought of every basic scenario having to do with SB1070, but there's one I missed: people seeking political asylum in the U.S.

In an excellent analysis of the various ways SB1070 is likely to be enforced across Arizona — think Tower of Babel — Jeffrey Kaye brings up the issue of people seeking asylum in the U.S.

According to the article, there is a period when an asylum seeker is applying for the right to stay here but is not documented. How does an Arizona police officer deal with that person?

Some jurisdictions have said, we'll notify the consulates of the country the asylum seeker is fleeing from.

Another policy that Arizona police agencies could undermine by their interpretation of SB 1070 is asylum. U.S. laws and international treaties require immigration officials to allow asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution or abuse in their homelands to remain in the country while they apply for the right to stay. However, Chandler police will notify foreign consulates if they encounter applicants for asylum as will Phoenix P.D. It's a policy that shocks Phoenix migrant rights activist Lydia Guzman. "It's like turning a person back to their country," she said. "If someone's running from their country, you don't want to turn them in." Not only that, but officers who turn in asylum applicants to their consulates would actually be violating federal law (8 C.F.R.208.6): "Information contained in or pertaining to any asylum application shall not be disclosed [to third parties] without the written consent of the applicant…"

How much do we hate potentially illegal immigrants here in Arizona? We'll say to authoritarian governments, "Hey, we've got a guy here from your country who doesn't have papers. You want him?"

Because anything is better than having someone here who might be illegal. Anything. Even if it means breaking federal law in the process.