Terrill said he was "99.9" percent confident that the bill would withstand any challenge to it. "House Bill 1804 is a carefully calibrated measure," he said. "It's designed to sync perfectly with federal immigration law."

Terrill said the measure was written "well within" constitutional and federal immigration guidelines.

"A state cannot regulate immigration," he said. "A state can, however, cooperatively enforce immigration law and the federal government encourages states to cooperatively enforce the law."

House Bill 1804, he said, was not regulation but cooperative enforcement.

"This request is just the first step in trying to thwart implementation of the law," Terrill said.

Rep. Collins disagreed, charging the law was aimed primary at Hispanics and, therefore, racist.

"I voted against the bill, I didn't support the bill," Collins said. "I think it was racist and aimed primary at the Hispanic population. I think that's wrong."

And while Terrill said recent polls show "a vast majority" of Oklahomans want tougher immigration laws, Collins said most Oklahomans didn't understand the issue.

"People are not educated about the real facts of federal immigration," he said. "They don't understand."

Edmondson's spokesman, Charlie Price, said the attorney general will assign the letter to an associate for review. But that review, Price said, could take several weeks.

Portions of the law are set to go into effect Nov. 1.

M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com