Napolitano vetoes Mexican ID ban on 'foreign nationals'

The Business Journal of Phoenix - 2:08 PM MST Thursday, May 10, 2007

by Mike Sunnucks

The Business Journal

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has vetoed legislative measures aimed at curtailing illegal immigration, shunning the term "illegal immigrant" in favor of "foreign national."

Napolitano, a Democrat, nixed a Republican measure to prohibit state and local governments from accepting Mexican identification cards as valid IDs and another measure to create a state militia to help secure the border and respond to other emergencies.

Napolitano sent veto letters to the Legislature explaining her action.

Republican supporters of the ID bill say acceptance of Mexican consular identification cards by Arizona governments and banks encourages illegal immigration and helps Mexican drug traffickers and smugglers operate in the state. The proposal would have applied only to Arizona government entities.