“We’re way too busy,” Charlton said of the law’s requirement that police officers question anyone they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally. “We don’t have enough officers on the street to look for other stuff like that. If they’re not doing anything, they’re just being normal people. Why would I do that?”…
“We are in a tenuous position as law enforcement,” Tucson Police Chief Roberto A. Villaseñor said, noting that the law allows citizens to sue police agencies that do not enforce it. “No matter which way we go, there are lawsuits in the wings. The ones who are going to get beaten up on this most are the law enforcement agencies.”…
The day after the Arizona legislature approved the bill, the police headquarters was flooded with phone calls. A typical complaint, according to Villaseñor, was this: “Hey, there are some Mexicans standing on the corner? You need to check them out.”
The police chief considered the requests “ridiculous” because “a lot of people stand on street corners.” Villaseñor, a Tucson native who joined the police force in 1980 and became chief last year, said he understands the frustrations but objects to the law on several levels.
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