Reps. Harry Teague, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan all told The Independent they oppose the newly-signed Arizona law, calling it racial profiling and an breach of individual privacy rights. The three also said that the law shows the need for comprehensive, federal, immigration reform to pass Congress sooner rather than later.

“I’m very concerned by the law. Our country—and particularly New Mexico—has a proud history of embracing diversity,” Rep. Ben Ray Luján told The Independent in a statement. “We know that we need to secure our borders and work to keep our communities safe, but this new law opens the door for racial profiling and infringements of our individual rights, which can be dangerous and do much more harm than good with respect to the safety of the public.”

“Arizona’s misguided legislation is the wrong reaction to a very real issue. Passing laws that many of our citizens fear will institutionalize racial profiling is no solution,” Rep. Martin Heinrich told The Independent in a statement. “That is why I feel it is so important for Congress to take up immigration reform this year.”

“This is a misguided and potentially dangerous law that makes it okay to treat Hispanics different from everyone else in Arizona,” Rep. Harry Teague said in a statement. He continued, “While I recognize and support a state’s right to protect its citizens, I don’t support a state by state patchwork approach to addressing border security and illegal immigration.”

Beyond saying that the law is racial profiling, the three also said that it was a response to the lack of movement by Congress on immigration laws. ‘

“For too long Washington has proved unwilling and unable to confront this challenge,” Teague said. “The Arizona law has made it clear that Congress must act to secure the border and fix our broken immigration laws.”

“We need to come together to fix our broken immigration system by passing comprehensive immigration reform—not by attempting to find a wedge issue to divide America,” Luján said.

“I am proud that here in New Mexico we value our diverse heritage, and I know that in Washington, D.C. we must rise to the challenge and fix this broken system once and for all,” Heinrich told The Independent.

Comprehensive immigration reform may be next on the agenda of Congress, following Financial Regulation. Many believe it has bumped climate or energy legislation as the next big-ticket item for Congress to act on.