Arizona Copy Cat Laws Face Negative Economic Reality Of State Passed Immigration Legislation

The negative economic impact of passing state based anti immigrant legislation is starting to be realized by local governments all over the country. As the new legislative season begins in state governments across the country many local politicians are realizing that passing anti immigrant legislation is bad economic policy as it opens their states to:

  1. Costly Law Suits From Local and National Organizations
  2. Possible Involvement Of Federal Government In The Form Of More Law Suits
  3. Budget Deficits For Overtime Pay of Local Law Enforcement Officials
  4. Backlash from Local Law Enforcement Officials Who Are Divided On Whether The Laws Are Effective
  5. National Political Backlash

Lois Romano of the Washington Post has the full story here:

"State budget deficits, coupled with the political backlash triggered by Arizona's law and potentially expensive legal challenges from the federal government, have made passage of such statutes uncertain. In the nine months since the Arizona measure was signed into law, a number of similar bills have stalled or died or are being reworked. Some have faced resistance from law enforcement officials who question how states or communities could afford the added cost of enforcing the laws."

Of note, anti-immigrant organizations have begun to characterize SB1070, not as a way for states to actively work towards solving the problems of associated with undocumented immigration at the state level.

Even leaders of these organizations admit that in the current economy states are ill equipped to enforce federal immigration laws. The real purpose of these laws is to begin a national conversation about immigration reform:

"Obviously most places were not going to pass Arizona bills," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tighter immigration laws. "There's always an initial flush of enthusiasm and then the reality of politics sets in. . . . These states are bankrupt - they need to decide what battles they want to fight." But Krikorian also said that the Arizona bill has "done what it was supposed to do" by creating a national discussion on immigration reform in the absence of federal legislation."

While its great that these organizations have seen the light, and can acknowledge that state based immigration laws are expensive and counterproductive, it would be even better if they spent less time in the states and more time in Washington D.C. to work towards passing a federal solution which would help to alleviate the financial burden of enforcement from the states.