Anchorage Daily News

Assemblyman Paul Bauer's plan to ask Anchorage voters two questions about illegal immigration died Tuesday night.

Bauer was trying to put the questions on the April 1 city ballot. One would have asked if police should check someone's citizenship during traffic stops and arrests, and the other would have asked if local police should be trained to enforce federal immigration laws.

But Bauer's proposal wilted before clearing even the first Assembly hurdle Tuesday, meaning it won't get a public hearing and the Assembly won't vote on whether to put the questions to voters.

That's because at least three Assembly members -- including Bauer -- had to support introducing the proposal before it could ever reach a vote.

Only Assemblyman Dan Sullivan joined Bauer, who fell one ally short.

Bauer had originally tried to change city law so that police would ask people for proof of citizenship during traffic stops, and team up with federal authorities to crack down on illegal immigrants. The Assembly killed that effort, in November, before it reached a public hearing.

"I didn't want the community to ignore this and deny that we don't have an illegal immigration issue in Alaska -- in Anchorage specifically," Bauer said after his second effort failed.

An ad hoc coalition called the Anchorage Immigrant Rights Coalition had formed to oppose Bauer's original proposal. That group's spokesman, Erick Cordero, recently wrote that the ordinance would be divisive, potentially lead to racial profiling and could divert police resources from enforcing local laws. "This means that we were right all along," Cordero said in the Assembly chamber Tuesday.

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

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