Reuters
Sunday, April 25, 2010; 8:01 PM
PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Obama administration faced mounting pressure on Sunday to overhaul immigration policy, as prominent Hispanic politicians and street protesters decried a new Arizona law as a violation of civil rights.
Immigration reform is a bitterly contested political issue in the United States but a top priority for Hispanics, who are the largest minority in the nation and an important power base for President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party.
Their anger flared on Friday when Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a bill requiring police to determine whether people are in the country legally and to question them if there is suspicion they're not.
It also forces immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times
U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force, was among those who planned to attend a protest rally at the state capitol buildings in Phoenix on Sunday.
"I am going there to let the people of Arizona know that they are not alone in fighting against bigotry and hatred," the Illinois Democrat said in a statement, adding that the new law was a "serious civil rights catastrophe that Republicans in Arizona are unleashing on immigrants."
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