Heather Lombardini, spokeswoman for state Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Township, who spoke at the rally and will be the legislation’s primary sponsor, said the legislation is necessary to protect Michigan’s borders.

The legislation would be similar to an immigration law recently passed in Arizona aimed at identifying and deporting illegal immigrants in that state.

Failure to comply with the Michigan legislation, if eventually signed into law, would result in detainment by police, Lombardini said.

“It’s been the law,” Lombardini said. “Now, if a person gets pulled over for speeding, drunken driving, or for whatever reason, an officer can ask for their papers.”

The Arizona law has been met with criticism, its opponents claiming it invites discrimination and racial profiling onto ethnicities. A statement on Meltzer’s website said such laws have been active federally since 1940, requiring U.S. non-citizens to register and carry their documentation with them.

Meltzer was accompanied at the rally by Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, who agreed with the need to pass the bill, but for different reasons.

“The Sheriff thinks that citizen status should be included in the procedure police use to address offenders,” said Kathryn Martian, a spokeswoman for Bouchard. “Officers wouldn’t be allowed to ask a person of their status, it would just be included in the system.”

Bouchard could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Several area high school students opposing the bill dressed in their high school cap and gowns took to the Capitol steps after the supporters’ rally, chanting “Forget Immigration, I need education!”

Many opponents of the potential legislation were in support of the DREAM Act, a U.S. Senate bill that would allow undocumented students under the age of 15 that have resided in the U.S. for at least five years to apply for conditional status to attend college or serve in the military. That legislation still is in the U.S. Senate.

“I’m a good kid, not a criminal,” said Dayanna Reboliedo, an undocumented student and supporter of the DREAM Act. “I went to school here, I played sports, I was in the band, I’m a normal student, and a piece of paper shouldn’t change that.”

Many undocumented immigrants face deportation in the country they have come to reside, and the state should take the opportunity to allow them to attend college, said Samantha Nawrocki, a spokeswoman for the DREAM Campaign.

“It’s a way for America to set a new standard for a future reform based on education, hard work and fairness,” Nawrocki said. “It’s a way for undocumented citizens to reinvest in the America that they’ve grown up in.”