Candidate: Arizona law not wise here

Arizona's controversial state law aimed at curbing illegal immigration would withstand constitutional scrutiny but wouldn't be right for Nevada, according to Jacob Hafter, a Republican candidate for attorney general.

Hafter and Travis Barrick are vying for the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in the fall. The winner would be Nevada's top law enforcer, a job that calls for evaluation of whether laws adhere to the constitutions of Nevada and the United States.

Hafter said authors of the Arizona law -- which calls on state and local police to verify the immigration status of people they suspect to be in the country illegally -- "did a very good job making sure this is going to withstand constitutional muster."

Critics have alleged the law will usher in a new era of racial profiling by police they say will lean on the statute as a crutch to justify shaking down Hispanic residents for immigration papers. They point to a reference in the law that says authorities should use "reasonable suspicion" as the standard to determine whether to demand evidence someone is in the country legally.

That standard, according to critics, is vague and subject to abuse by overzealous police who could end up hassling legally present Hispanic and Mexican-American people.

The law and protests in response have made Arizona a rhetorical battleground in the debate over immigration reform to address problems along the border between the United States and Mexico.

Hafter says much of the outrage is unwarranted, at least from a legal perspective.

Hafter noted that changes from a draft to the final version of the law include a provision that says police can't use race, color or national origin as a reason to suspect someone is an illegal immigrant. The law also says immigration status must be secondary to another incident, meaning police would have to have stopped a person for suspicion of violating another law before they could even consider whether there was reasonable suspicion the person was in the United States illegally.

Those caveats, Hafter says, are lost in the shouting between politicians and activists on different sides of the immigration debate.

But he still doesn't think the law is right for Nevada.

That's because Nevada's economy depends heavily on tourism and Mexico is the state's second-largest source of international visitation, after Canada. Hafter says Nevada shouldn't do anything that would dissuade legitimate visits from Mexican tourists.

"We can't afford even one incident of somebody who was here as a tourist being mistaken as illegal," Hafter said. "It would be deadly to our economy."

Instead of arguing about Arizona's law, Hafter says leaders here should propose solutions to illegal immigration problems that make sense for Nevada.

That could include linking enforcement to the job application process, he said, because tourists and business visitors aren't in Nevada to apply for jobs.

"The solution in Nevada is to focus on employment," Hafter said. "And that is a point that has not been discussed by anybody."

When Barrick was asked about the Arizona law, he said he thinks it has enough safeguards to be constitutional and he would enforce it if Nevada passed a similar law and he were attorney general.

He also said there is legal recourse available for people in the event police went overboard enforcing a law on immigration or any other issue.

"I think there are existing avenues to pursue any public agency that violates somebody's civil rights," Barrick said. "That is a well developed area of law."

Masto, through spokes­woman Edie Cartwright, declined to comment.

JOURNALIST RUNS FOR U.S. SENATE

No longer content to expose political corruption in the news, journalist John Dougherty wants to hold politicians accountable on their home turf: the campaign trail.

Dougherty, a freelance journalist who in recent years worked in Nevada, is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. His most recent work in Nevada was for the conservative think tank Nevada Policy Research Institute, where he investigated reckless spending by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and problems with Nevada's system of property taxation.

He's seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge the winner of the primary race between Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman.

He says he took the plunge from journalism to politics because he thinks McCain and Hayworth represent the political establishment and Democrats in Arizona haven't put forth any credible challenge.

Dougherty's background as an outsider journalist will be key to his campaign, as his strategy will include dredging up hard truths about politics and presenting them to voters in a convincing fashion.

High on his list of grievances is the financial crash that sent the national economy into a tailspin but spared from harm many Wall Street leaders who contributed to the meltdown. Dougherty says it is time to unravel the mess and make sure the same people don't get another crack at leadership.

"We know we got screwed, but we don't know how exactly they screwed us and we don't have any say in how we're not going to get screwed again," he said. "We don't have to put up with this."

He's also campaigning against Arizona's recent immigration law.

Although he's running as a Democrat, Dougherty says he isn't taking cues from party bosses, some of whom he says aren't thrilled with his candidacy.

"I'm not going to let these guys come in here and sculpt me," said Dougherty, 53, who was born in Key West, Fla., and moved to Arizona in 1974.

Dougherty has made some concessions to the political culture, though. Gone are the long hair, beard and ratty outfits of a self-employed writer.

"I cut my hair, I shaved, I have a suit on," he said. "The public wants a politician that kind of looks like one. Not one that looks like Woodstock warmed over."

He's got one other skill acquired as a journalist that will come in handy in a race where he will no doubt be outspent many times over by the other campaigns.

"I can live cheap, man," says Dougherty, who does much of his traveling in an old RV. "The fuel for the bus, that's all I need. One tank of gas will get me 1,300 miles."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.