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Police and prosecutors from around the state agree that Pennsylvania House Bill 2479, modeled after Arizona's "papers, please" immigration law, would put a terrible burden on law enforcement.
"I think the way we're doing it right now is working for us. Quite frankly, we have our hands full doing what we do now...Walking up to someone from the way they look or their speech or manner of dress, I think it's wrong. I think it's a slippery slope, and I think it's dangerous."
--Chief Leo McCarthy, Moon Township (Allegheny County) Police Department, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, May 8
"At this point, Pennsylvania doesn't need any additional legislation to address the problem because it's just not at that level here in Pennsylvania."
--Mary Beth Buchanan, former U.S. Attorney, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, May 8
"(A)nother unfunded mandate for local government, for local law enforcement."
--Stephen A. Zappalla, Jr., District Attorney, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, May 8
"Some of the people who come up with these ideas, I almost think I know what they're trying to say. It's inexcusable. To me, it's, 'Anybody who's not white might be an illegal immigrant.' That's what I'm getting out of that. It's offensive. People who never come into contact with any kind of immigrants make a lot of assumptions on archaic stigmas, and it's frustrating."
--Chief Keith Sadler, Lancaster Police Department, The Intelligencer Journal, May 5
"There's going to have to be an immense amount of training in how to make correct determinations, and in the area of documentation, especially counterfeit. That's going to be a huge market...This commonwealth has cut back funding for police training immensely. Whose dime is this going to be on? If it fell upon me, I need this budget for other things."
--Chief William L. Harvey, Ephrata Borough (Lancaster County) Police Department, The Intelligencer Journal, May 5
"From what I've seen, it would put a terrible burden on a district attorney and his staff - especially a smaller DA."
--Shawn Wagner, District Attorney, Adams County, Hanover Evening Sun, May 9
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