The immigration Abill now heads to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who has five days to sign it, veto it or do nothing and allow it to become law.

Senate Bill 1070 would, among other things, make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and require local police to enforce federal-immigration laws. If the governor signs it, Arizona would be the first state to criminalize illegal immigrants.

The Senate approved the bill 17 to 11.

Brewer, speaking to media at an unrelated news conference Monday morning, said she had "concerns" about SB 1070.

"I am always concerned about all of those things," Brewer said when asked about several specific provisions of the bill, including one that would require police to ask anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally to produce an "alien registration document" such as a green card. Those who don't or can't produce one would be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor and face a minimum $500 fine.

U.S. Sen. John McCain threw his support toward the measure on Monday.

"I think the people of Arizona understandably are frustrated and angry," the Arizona Republican said. "It's also a commentary on the frustration that our state Legislature has that the federal government has not fulfilled its constitutional responsibilities to secure our borders."

Opponents include Mexico's embassy, American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, spoke out against the bill. "It's popular that I hear that we're going to take handcuffs off police. What we're doing with this bill is putting the handcuffs on the community."

The bill is the latest aimed at cementing the state's reputation as the leader in tough and controversial immigration-control measures. Arizona has about 460,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security.


There is more to this article here:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/19/20100419arizona-immigration-bill-passes.html?source=nletter-breakingnews

The Senate Engrossed Version of the bill can be read here:

http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.htm