Anchorage Daily News

Late last year the Anchorage Assembly killed Paul Bauer's plan to have police check for illegal immigrants during traffic stops.

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Paul Bauer

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Now, Assemblyman Bauer hopes to resurrect the idea by putting the debate before voters.

He's proposing two ballot questions for the April 1 election.

The first question would ask Anchorage voters whether police should verify during stops and arrests if someone is legally in the United States. The second would ask whether local police should be trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration law.

Both votes would be advisory only, meaning they wouldn't change city laws without some later action from the Assembly.

"If it did pass, it would tell the Assembly that the public does not really have an issue with this ... that they don't mind the checks, and they shouldn't if they're legal," Bauer said.

Critics of Bauer's plan said it would be a divisive, unnecessary distraction for police.

Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg, who like Bauer represents East Anchorage, opposed the original plan.

"We've got a high murder rate, we've got serious challenges before us, and the police department indicated we have absolutely no problem enforcing federal laws right now," she said.

The proposed ballot questions are scheduled to hit the Assembly at its meeting Tuesday. If the proposal is introduced, no public hearing or Assembly vote would be held for at least two weeks.

A majority of the 11 Assembly members would have to approve the questions before they could appear on the April ballot.

Assembly vice chair Debbie Ossiander said Bauer asked for her support, but she's not ready to give it.

"His concern was that we were somehow this sanctuary city (for illegal immigrants) and I don't believe we were and I don't believe we are," Ossiander said.

In September, Bauer first proposed a new city law that would call on police to ask drivers for proof they're an American, or in the country legally, during routine traffic stops. It would also have forced police to team up with federal immigration authorities to crack down on illegal immigrants.

An ad hoc group called the Anchorage Immigrant Rights Coalition formed in opposition to the plan. The city health and human services commission and the Assembly's public safety committee also opposed it.

On Nov. 27, Assemblyman Allan Tesche moved to postpone Bauer's proposal indefinitely -- a move that would essentially kill it. The Assembly voted 8-3 to do just that, with only Assembly members Bauer, Dan Coffey and Dan Sullivan voting to keep the proposal alive.

Tesche said Bauer's proposal to now ask voters if they would support key pieces of his original plan is meant to put pressure on the Assembly.

Bauer, who says his ideas never got a proper public hearing, didn't necessarily disagree.

"I'm putting the Assembly back on the spot to address this issue," he said.

Bauer said that if the ballot questions make it past the Assembly and voters, he might re-introduce some version of his original proposal.

The details are still unclear, but Bauer said police would be trained to check and verify someone's immigration status.

Asked if his ultimate goal is for illegal immigrants in Anchorage to be arrested and deported, he said:

"Yeah. Someone breaking the law, who is in a deportable offense, that is the intent."

Find Kyle Hopkins' political blog online at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.

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