Arizona and Immigration

A piece at The Colorado Independent focuses on a person who was arrested for failing to show proof that he was legally in the country.

A Latino truck driver outside Phoenix was taken into custody by law enforcement at a weigh station. He pulled in to have the truck looked at, was apparently approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and asked for ID. He showed them his commercial driver's license. They asked him for more ID. He told them his social security number. They cuffed him took him to the central office in Phoenix and called his wife to bring his social security card and birth certificate. The truckdiver is identifying himself to media only as "Abdon" and he is an American citizen born in the USA.

The ICE agents said this was all just standard procedure. But the agents might just as well have been local police or highway patrol, who are now required by the controversial law Gov. Jan Brewer signed Friday to follow the same "standard procedure" and question individuals about their immigration status during routine stops. Welcome to the new Arizona, where there are sure to be whole websites dedicated to these kind of stories soon.

So Arizona has adopted what ICE calls "standard procedure".  If the Feds were routinely arresting citizens and legal residents in this fashion, I suspect we'd have heard about it before now.  I think this may be a matter of conveniently timed outrage over a case that's not quite as represented.

ICE is investigating, and their side of the story should be available soon.