ACLU of Kentucky

Opponents of Senate Bill 6, a measure modeled after Arizona's controversial immigration bill (SB 1070), speak out against the bill in a Herald-Leader article:

Opponents of the law, including immigration lawyers, the Catholic Conference of Kentucky and the American Civil Liberties Union, urged senators to defeat the bill, saying it contains numerous provisions that will likely be challenged in court.

Kate Miller, with the Kentucky American Civil Liberties Union, noted that a federal judge has already blocked major portions of the Arizona law.

Miller also said the bill does not define what documents would prove someone's legal immigration status, and that such documents vary from state to state. It is sometimes possible to be in the state legally but not have federal immigration papers, she said.

Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the federal government has authority over immigration, not states, she said.

Rev. Pat Delahanty, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, said the Arizona law has had unintended consequences.

Delahanty read from affidavits of several police officers and county sheriffs in Arizona who say they do not have the resources to enforce federal immigration laws. Some said they felt they had to enforce immigration laws at the expense of investigating other crimes.

"We do not know the cost of this legislation, but suspect it will be in the millions of dollars at the expense of addressing actual serious needs that Kentucky has," Delahanty said.