The harsh new immigration bill signed into law Friday by Arizona Gov. Jane Brewer has drawn strong criticism from Arizona's two biggest newspapers, while others have offered milder responses.

Key in the criticism is the law's requirement that non-citizens carry proof that they are in the U.S. legally and that authorities check on anyone who does not appear to be American.

The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, the state's largest circulation daily, condemned the law in an editorial Saturday, stating: “The worst effect is its grave potential for causing harm to innocent, taxpaying American citizens who no longer can feel certain of the law's blindness.”

The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson did not wait until the law was signed, editorializing back on April 16 against it: “The measure would turn legal residents into police targets, as well as those who are here illegally. It would foment racial profiling of Hispanics. It would interfere with more important police work and it would give free rein to those who use emotional immigration issues for political gain.”

The Yuma Sun in Yuma, Ariz., bypassed the ethical questions and took the issue of state versus federal rights into account, declaring: “This showdown between the state and the federal government could very well end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. That would be a good thing as it would make clear that the federal government controls immigration policy, not the states.”

But at least one daily paper offered support for the new law, the Casa Grande Dispatch, which stated in an editorial April 15: “While the problems of southern Arizona ranchers are not the same as those faced by the state as a whole, the border violence is a symptom of a system where illegal immigration is tolerated. The federal government has been slow to deal with the situation, but the state is stepping in to fill a void.”