Arizona’s new immigration law, SB1070, has generated national attention and sparked lawsuits in Tucson.

On June 8, Sunnyside School District joined with Tucson Police Department officer Martin Escobar in a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the new law, which is set to go into effect July 29.

The district brought the lawsuit against the state because school officials are worried about how the law will be enforced against students.

“We don’t want to be Border Patrol, we don’t want to take on the responsibility the federal government has been taking on,” said Sunnyside High School Principal Raul Nido.

“This law is directed towards Latinos or if you’re brown,” said Nido, which worries him. “Sunnyside has 2,200 students, and 98 percent of them are of Hispanic or Latino or Mexican descent.”

Nido said there would most likely be a lack of communication between undocumented students and law enforcement as a result of the immigration law.

Nido said he is concerned about the process local officers will follow to pursue criminal allegations against undocumented students.

Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman, said there are also concerns about victims’ rights for undocumented migrants as well as what happens when they are witnesses to a crime.

“It’s possible that because this community is mainly Latino, families of illegal immigrants won’t want to call police even if they are a victim of a crime,” Pacheco said.

According to Arizona state Sen. Frank Antenori, a Republican from Tucson who voted for the law, this is a misconception. Antenori said officers will participate in a program called Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training, which is designed to educate them about the procedure they will implement when SB 1070 takes effect.

“If a student is a victim of a crime and also an illegal citizen, AZ POST training states that their immigration status will not be investigated,” Antenori said.

Michael Olguin, a teacher at S.T.A.R High School in the Sunnyside School District, said most of the families he encounters through the school are not involved in crime.

“If you walk four or five days through the desert to get here, the last thing you want to do is have the cops be called on you or to do anything to get police involved and risk the chance of getting deported,” Olguin said.

Officers in the Tucson Police Department said they have not yet participated in AZ Post. The training will occur in upcoming weeks.

If all undocumented students were to leave as a result of SB 1070, enrollment at S.T.A.R. Academic Center would plummet, Olguin said, resulting in possible school closure and teacher unemployment.

“A lot of students that I have talked to that are undocumented say their parents are not interested in staying here and being harassed,” Olguin said, “so a lot of them are saying, ‘My parents just want to move to another state.’”

Antenori and state Rep. Vic Williams, a Republican from Sonoita, believe SB 1070 won’t interfere with public education but the lawsuit will.

“I think it’s a waste of money and resources because they should be putting it in the classroom to educate kids,” Antenori said.

Williams said the lawsuit has no grounds and will probably be dismissed by the courts.
Antenori, on the other hand, said he hopes the lawsuit is not thrown out. Eventually he would like to see the case go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I hope it goes to the Supreme Court and have the Supreme Court rule on it, because then it becomes a law of the land and other states will pass similar legislation,” he said. “I would appreciate a lawsuit.”