RALEIGH — The state senator who represents Surry County is working toward passage of an immigration law in North Carolina similar to Arizona’s.

Sen. Don East has filed a joint resolution aimed at allowing a version of Arizona’s immigration bill to be filed during the short session of the state Legislature which is now under way.

Since short sessions normally are devoted to budgeted-related issues, the parliamentary rules are “very, very restrictive on what bills can and cannot be heard,” East explained Wednesday.

Those rules require both chambers of the N.C. General Assembly, the House as well as the Senate, to approve the resolution, which would pave the way for East’s bill to be introduced this session. “I have the bill drafted — it has just not been filed yet,” East added Wednesday.

That bill would be titled “An act to create the crime of willful failure to carry or complete an alien registration document.”

With the move by the Surry County Republican, North Carolina reportedly has become the 18th documented state to pursue a version of Arizona’s immigration law. The Arizona measure calls for police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally.

East, himself a retired police officer, said the purpose of his proposal is simply to make sure federal immigration laws are obeyed in North Carolina, even though they aren’t enforced on a national level. “If the federal government’s not going to follow the federal statute, let the states do it,” he said.

The federal law was incorporated into Arizona’s legislation, which is less stringent than U.S. law because it doesn’t require immigrants to carry documentation at all times confirming their citizenship status.

While some critics have attempted to portray Arizona’s move as universally unpopular, numerous polls show that 60 to 81 percent of Americans support local police enforcing immigration laws as that Southwest state is doing.

Sen. East said he was motivated to attempt similar legislation in North Carolina after witnessing the Arizona law’s condemnation by television commentators around the nation and even from foreign quarters.

“We had the president of Mexico telling us what we should or shouldn’t be doing about illegal immigration,” East said of recent remarks by President Felipe Calderon.

The question in North Carolina is whether East’s resolution will receive the necessary approval to allow the immigration bill to be considered during the restrictive short session. “I’ve got a lot of support, but most of my support is not with the leadership party,” he said of Democrats, who hold the majority in Raleigh.

Supporters of such a law in North Carolina are mounting campaigns aimed at prompting citizens to contact their respective legislators and ask that East’s measure be directed to the appropriate channels to receive consideration.

At last report, East’s resolution already had picked up 12 sponsors.

“Let the people vote on it, and make their best judgment on it,” the Surry lawmaker said of allowing both houses of the General Assembly to act on the resolution.

East added Wednesday afternoon that he had spoken earlier in the day with the Senate rules chairman, who pledged to have the resolution considered in a caucus. “As we speak, I don’t have a whole lot ... to tell you,” he said.

The senator from Pilot Mountain said he realized upon getting involved in the controversial immigration fight that it would cause rumblings among state media outlets. But East, who is running for re-election this year, said he already has declined to participate in a televised press conference on the issue.

“I’m not doing it for publicity — it’s just right,” he said of his intent to have North Carolina follow Arizona’s lead.

“I’m not doing it for anything other than it’s the right thing to do.”

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.