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By: Jonathan J. Cooper and Paul Davenport, Associated Press WritersPHOENIX (AP) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the nation’s toughest leg-islation against illegal im-migration Friday, a sweeping measure that supporters said would take handcuffs off police but which President Barack Obama said could violate people’s civil rights.The bill, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legisla-ture, would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It would also require local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to sus-pect they are illegal immigrants.Brewer, who faces a tough elec-tion battle and growing anger in the state over illegal immigrants, said the law “protects every Ari-zona citizen,” and said the state must act because the federal gov-ernment has failed.“We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Wash-ington to act,” Brewer said after signing the law. “But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unaccept-able situation.”The bill takes effect in 90 days after the current legislative ses-sions in the next several weeks.Obama said in Washington that he’s instructed the Justice De-partment to examine the Arizona bill to see if it’s legal, and said the federal government must

enact immigration reform at the national level — or leave the door open to “irresponsibility by oth-ers.”“That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic no-tions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communi-ties that is so crucial to keeping us safe,” Obama said.Civil rights activists have said the bill would lead to racial pro-filing and deter Hispanics from reporting crimes.Brewer said she wouldn’t tolerate racial profiling.Hundreds of protesters gathered at the State Capitol complex Fri-day calling on Brewer to veto the legislation.Demonstrators have been camped outside the Capitol since the measure passed out of the Legis-lature on Monday. Their numbers have grown steadily throughout the week, with buses bringing protest-ers from as far away as Los Ange-les.About a dozen supporters of the measure also gathered.U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Demo-crat who opposes the measure, said he’s closing his Arizona offices at noon Friday after his staff in

Yuma and Tucson were flooded with calls this week, some from peo-ple threatening violent acts and shouting racial slurs.The bill’s Republican sponsor, state Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, said Obama and other critics of the bill were “against law en-forcement, our citizens and the rule of law.”Pearce said the legislation would remove “political handcuffs” from police and help drive illegal im-migrants from the state.“Illegal is illegal,” said Pearce, a driving force on the is-sue in Arizona. “We’ll have less crime. We’ll have lower taxes. We’ll have safer neighborhoods. We’ll have shorter lines in the emergency rooms. We’ll have small-er classrooms.”Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the state with the most illegal border crossings, with the harsh, remote desert serving as the gateway for thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans.Other provisions of the bill al-low lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws, and make it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly trans-port them.

MexicaN ART GOING PostalArizona’s Gov.

passes toughest law against il-legal immigra-tion IN THE U.S.

Photo: ‘Stopped in their tracks, caught in the system’Mexican immigration will be most impacted by Arizona’s new law.

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PICTURE STORIESBelow are a few pieces on dis-

play at the National Museum of

Mexican Art in Chicago. Mexican

artists from around the world are

featured in the exhibit. Most of

the art depicts cultural strug-

gles that arise from the rocky

relationship between Mexico and

America. The most prominent issues

are escaping to the U.S. poverty

on both sides of thee border, drug

trade and women abuse

Celia Alvarez, ‘Stories your mother never

told you’

Victoria Delgadillo,‘A prayer for Juarez’

Marcos Raya,‘Los hijos de la Mala Vida’

Street art in Chicago’s Little Village.

GET THE LOOK:

Stephanie Flora is wearing a vintage

bowling shirt, leather jacket from AKIRA

Chicago, American Apparel black leg-gings, Forever 21 leapoard bra and

American Classic red bandanna.

“Illegal is ille-

gal”