Groups claim Pearce emails prove SB 1070 racially motivated

PHOENIX - A lawsuit has been filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Valle del Sol, and others attempting to stop the "show me your papers" portion of the SB 1070 law .

The groups claim emails from Russell Pearce prove the law was racially motivated from the beginning.

The emails from Pearce include statements like: "I'm a racist, because I don't want to be taxed to pay for a prison population comprised of mainly Hispanics, Latinos, Mexicans, whatever else you wish to call them."

In another email from Pearce on May 22, 2007, he talked about what he calls a good article and said: "It warns of an immigrant invasion of the United States from the third world, as America's white majority is no longer even reproducing itself."

Another email dated April 24, 2006, referring to the importation of Spanish speaking people to America, Pearce writes: "It's like importing leper colonies and hoping we don't catch leprosy."

ABC15 tried to contact Pearce for comment and did not get a response.

There are similar emails from other lawmakers to Pearce that echo his sentiment.

The groups behind the lawsuit hope the emails will help their case to have the courts stop all of SB 1070, and for Congress to address comprehensive immigration reform.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer responded to the claims by saying, "The ACLU's tactic is a smokescreen. By focusing upon an individual legislator's emails, they intend to divert focus from SB 1070's simple, common sense language."