Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere – Los Angeles
Seth Hoy
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Home page: http://immigrationimpact.com
Posts by Seth Hoy
More States Introduce Costly Immigration Enforcement Bills in 2012
01 day ago
Despite the devastating consequences of state immigration laws in Alabamaand Arizona, legislators in other states have introduced similar enforcement bills this year. Legislators in Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia introduced an array of costly immigration enforcement bills in their 2012 legislative sessions—some which are modeled on Arizona’s SB 1070. While study after study continues to document how these extreme state laws are costing state economies, disrupting entire industries and driving communities further underground, state legislators clearly aren’t getting the message.
Last month, legislators in Mississippi introduced a slew of anti-immigrant bills. State Senator Joey Fillingane, for example, introduced SB 2090, a bill which requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect is undocumented, makes it a crime to fail to carry proper immigration documents and a crime to harbor or transport an undocumented immigrant, and a misdemeanor for an undocumented immigrant to apply for or solicit work. Both the Mississippi House and Senate passed different versions of this bill, but are expected to hammer out one bill to send to Governor Haley Barbour’s desk for a signature soon.
In Missouri, state Senator Will Kraus recently introduced SB 590, a bill which requires police to determine the immigration status of individuals they reasonably suspect are unauthorized and makes it a crime not to carry immigration documents. Missouri’s bill, like Alabama, however takes the law a step further by requiring schools to verify the immigration status of enrolling students and their parents. Remember that the U.S. Department of Justice blocked a similar provision in Alabama’s immigration law, HB 56, last October. Missouri’s legislature passed the bill out of committee last week—a bill likely to cost Missouri millions.
The House Judiciary Committee in Tennessee advanced an immigration bill this month, HB 2191, a bill which makes it a felony for anyone in the state to knowingly conceal, harbor or transport an undocumented immigrant. Tennessee’s copycat bill, HB 1380—which requires police to question the immigration status of those they suspect of being undocumented—was put on hold this month due to budgetary concerns, despite Governor Bill Haslam’s public support of the bill days earlier. HB 1380 was also shelved last year due to $3 million price tag, but the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Carr, doesn’t seem like he’s giving up.
“Putting it behind the budget doesn’t kill it. It basically parks it,” Carr said. “We are prioritizing the state’s stance on illegal immigration based on the financial resources we have. We’ve got a very targeted approach to tackle illegal immigration here in the state.”
In Virginia, where control of the Governorship, House of Delegates and Senate recently changed hands to those with an enforcement heavy agenda, legislators recently introduced two Arizona copycat bills—SB 460 and its companion bill HB 1060—which allow police to determine the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country without documentation. Although SB 460 failed this week after a split vote in the Senate’s Courts of Justice Committee, it’s companion bill, HB 1060, was recently assigned to Virginia’s House Courts of Justice Sub-Committee.
And that’s only some of the immigration legislation moving through state legislatures. Other states have introduced other enforcement bills this year, each likely to hurt local businesses, families and state coffers.
Just this week, a report out of the University of Alabama estimated that Alabama stands to lose $11 billion in GDP and nearly $265 million in state income and sales tax due to their extreme immigration enforcement law, HB 56. Utah’s copycat law HB 497 (temporarily blocked last year) has cost the state $85,000 to defend, according to government reports. Arizona lost $490 million in tourism revenue last year, $86 million in lost wages, 2,800 lost jobs and more than $1 million in legal fees in defending SB 1070.
As states continue to move forward on these and other immigration enforcement bills, one wonders how much larger the writing on the wall has to be before state legislators realize these laws are costing taxpayers. Yes we need solutions to our immigration problems, but creating a complicated and costly patchwork of state laws isn’t bringing us any closer to that solution.
Photo by Africa Studio.
Advocates Call Romney’s Relationship with Anti-Immigrant Hawk “Political Suicide”
02 weeks ago
As if Mitt Romney’s repeated promise to veto the DREAM Act wasn’t alienating enough, advocates warn that Romney’s continued relationship with famed anti-immigrant hawk Kris Kobach is killing future support from Latino voters, especially in key states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Florida. Kobach, co-author of Arizona and Alabama’s extreme immigration enforcement laws, appeared in South Carolina Monday night to spin for the Romney campaign following the GOP debate.
Following Kobach’s endorsement of Gov. Mitt Romney last week, the Romney campaign issued a statement accepting Kobach’s endorsement and supporting his leadership on extreme immigration enforcement last in Arizona and South Carolina. Now, however, with Kobach actually appearing on Romney’s campaign trail, advocates say Kobach will damage Romney’s image among Latino voters.
Dee Dee Garcia Blase of the grassroots Republican Latino group Somos Republicans said “Romney committed political suicide” when he welcomed Kobach’s endorsement. Outspoken immigration advocate Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) called Kobach’s affiliation with the Romney campaign “appalling” and characterized Kobach as the “Dark Lord of the anti-immigration movement” on a teleconference. And earlier this month, Hispanic Leadership Fund’s Mario Lopez said Romney’s approach to immigration was hurting him as a candidate and the Republican party in general.
As previously reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Kris Kobach has built a long and varied career out of attacking immigrants—first in the Bush Administration targeting legal immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries and later as the architect of city ordinances and state laws targeting unauthorized, mostly Latino immigrants.
But the addition of Kobach to Romney’s campaign is just the latest in Romney’s hard line on immigration. Romney again indicated yesterday that he would veto the DREAM Act should it come up in Congress, arguing that “aiding those eligible under the DREAM Act”—a bill that puts undocumented students who were brought here by their parents on a path towards citizenship—“would only encourage more people to enter the country without documentation.”
Appearing tough on immigration may not hurt Romney during the GOP primary, but come general election time, many wonder how Romney plans to win the Latino vote. Matt Barreto of the University of Washington said that Romney will not win the presidency without at least 40% of the Latino vote, a vote Congressman Luis Gutierrez believes Romney will not receive given his current approach to immigration.
“There is no route to the White House that does not go through a Latino neighborhood. Any winner in either party needs a significant proportion of Latino voters. When you say you want millions of us to leave the country … we will vote against you.”
When it comes to immigration, American voters have established that they want solutions not smears. Politicians, however, continue to read from a different playbook written by a narrow group of voters and commentators.
Photo by Gage Skidmore.
Immigrants, Latinos and Asians Contribute More to Your State Than You Think
03 weeks ago
Immigration has never been a numbers game. When people think of immigration in America, they likely call to mind fear-fueled myths perpetuated by immigration restrictionists, like “immigrants are stealing American jobs” or “immigrants are a drain on our system.” Sadly, numbers and facts have rarely been part of the discussion, especially as state legislatures continue to take immigration law into their own hands. Today, however, the Immigration Policy Center published 50 state fact sheets updated to show just how much immigrants, Latinos and Asians contribute to our country as consumers, taxpayers, workers, entrepreneurs and voters—facts state legislators would do well to consider before passing legislation that drives immigrants, undocumented and documented, from their state.
Legislators in Alabama passed one of the most extreme anti-immigrant laws (HB 56) last year in response to the state’s “immigration problem.” According to the Pew Hispanic Center, Alabama’s undocumented population was 2.5% of total population (or 120,000 people) in 2010—lower than in 22 other states. While Alabama’s undocumented may be smaller than other states, however, their economic contributions are not. Alabama’s undocumented contributed more than $130 million in state and local taxes in 2010.
As Alabama continues to drive undocumented immigrants and their contributions from the state, they also run the risk of alienating documented immigrants, Latinos and Asians in the process. Alabama’s Latino and Asian populations’ combined purchasing power was nearly $6 billion in 2010. Alabama faces a $979 million budget gap in FY2012.
In California, whose undocumented population paid $2.7 billion in state and local taxes in 2010, some recently attempted (and failed) to overturn the California DREAM Act—two laws which allow undocumented students to enroll in California’s public colleges and universities and apply for state-based funding. Studies show that by 2025, California will not have enough college graduates to keep up with economic demand. The California DREAM Act may play a critical role in boosting the number of college grads.
Another part of Georgia’s extreme immigrant law (HB 87) went into effect this month, requiring people to show certain forms of identification before they can get among other things, professional business licenses. While this may seem pretty standard, business leaders in the state are worried that this will slow commerce, cause serious processing delays, and hurt an already struggling economy. At last count, Latino and Asian businesses in Georgia had sales and receipts of $20.6 billion and employed nearly 110,000 people.
State legislatures, the majority of which convene this month, are likely to continue to consider restrictive immigration legislation this year, but it’s critical that they consider exactly how much these punitive laws will cost their state. States are far from fully recovered from the economic recession and many still face large budget shortfalls into FY2013, according to Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Facts don’t lie. Immigrants, Latinos and Asians have and will continue to account for large and growing shares of state economies and populations. Can state legislators really afford to alienate such a critical part of its labor force, tax base, and business community?
Washington Post Lists Treating “Immigrants as People” as “In” for 2012
01 month ago
You wouldn’t know it from listening to the ridiculous anti-immigrant rhetoric over the past year, but treating immigrants like actual human beings is a concept some hope catches fire in 2012. The Washington Post recently added “immigrants as people” on “The List: 2012”—their annual zeitgeist-inspired list of ins and outs for the new year. Granted, “peacock feathers” and “Margaret Thatcher” also made the “in” column, but dialing down the immigrant bashing—a message Republican presidential candidates clearly missed during previous debates—is an idea that GOP political strategists are now embracing.
Republican strategists are apparently growing nervous as GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, continues to alienate Hispanic voters. While Gov. Romney has flipped back and forth on his approach to immigration policy over the years, he announced this past weekend that he would veto the DREAM Act—a bill that puts undocumented students who were brought here by their parents on a path towards citizenship—if Congress were to pass it.
According to Mario H. Lopez, president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, Romney’s approach isn’t going to sit well with America’s fastest growing voting demographic—Latinos.
Romney’s tin ear on this topic, on immigration, will hurt him should he be the nominee, is hurting the Republican Party and is hurting every conservative who cares about passing conservative legislation in the future.
But Romney’s not the only one. In fact, anti-immigrant rhetoric has increased over the past few years—from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s “beheadings in desert” to Republican Congressman Lamar Smith’s portrayal of immigrants as stealing jobs from Americans. More recently, however, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachman said she would deport every undocumented immigrant in the country while former GOP contender, Herman Cain, “joked” that he would electrify the border fence as a deterrent for unauthorized crossers. Not exactly rhetoric that warms Hispanic voters’ hearts.
Nor, however, does the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement strategies. According to a recent Pew poll, an overwhelming majority of Latinos (59% to 27%) disapprove of the Obama administration’s deportation strategy, which hit an average of 400,000 since 2009—double the annual average of George Bush’s first term.
Perhaps people are just tired of the same failed enforcement strategies and constant immigrant bashing that’s plagued the immigration issue for the last several years. Poll after poll shows that most Americans—even those who consider themselves conservative voters—favor a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living and working in America.
Maybe it’s time for those holding the microphone to take a step back and listen to what American voters really care about—comprehensive solutions to our immigration problems, not just more empty and hate-filled words.
Immigration Impact’s Top 11 Blogs of 2011
01 month ago
A review of immigration issues for 2011 reads like a rollercoaster of American politics. Some state legislatures, for example—backed by restrictionists groups—attempted to pass harsh enforcement-only immigration laws. Some states succeeded; others struck down these bills; and a few even passed progressive immigration laws like tuition equity for undocumented students. At the federal level, Congress failed yet again to take major action on immigration, but allowed a few humanitarian and refugee issues to pass. The Obama administration deported a record high number of immigrants, but at the same time issued prosecutorial discretion guidelines in an attempt to prioritize enforcement efforts. While our top 11 blog posts—those most read, shared and commented on in the past year—couldn’t possibly tell the whole immigration story of 2011, the list does provides an interesting snapshot of what moved people and prompted reactions throughout the year.
The 11 most popular blog posts of 2011:
11. Thousands of Children Stuck in Foster Care after Parents Deported, Report Finds (November 4)
10. The Facts (and Numbers) Don’t Matter in Alabama (October 12)
9. Despite Limits, How Padilla v. Kentucky Will Endure (January 27)
8. States that Passed Arizona-style Immigration Laws Now Face Costly, Uphill Legal Battles (June 3)
7. DHS No-Match Rule is Another Nail in Economy’s Coffin (October 27)
6. New Report Reveals Devastating Effects of Deportation on U.S. Citizen Children (April 26)
5. The List: A Modern Day Witch Hunt in Utah (July 15)
4. How Immigrants Can Help America Rise Again (February 2)
3. DHS Announces Expansion of Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines (August 18)
2. What ICE’s Latest Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion Means for Future Immigration Cases (June 6)
However, the most popular blog this year by far was Immigration Policy Center Director Mary Giovagnoli’s post on the inclusion of the term “anchor baby” in the American Heritage Dictionary—a term initially included without context:
1. “Anchor Baby” Added to New American Heritage Dictionary (December 2)
The editors at the American Heritage Dictionary quickly changed the definition to include the words “disparaging” and “offensive.” And the popularity of the post—featured in USA Today, the New York Times, on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report and across the Twittersphere—proves that words have meaning and that many people really do care about how we use them. Without the readers, activists, advocates and scholars who want a constructive and thoughtful debate on immigration—laid out in the hope of practical policy solutions—we would be left with the uninformed, hateful, divisive rhetoric too often slung around this issue.
No one knows which headlines we’ll be reading in 2012 or which blog posts will be the most popular, but we do know that many Americans are tired of the inflamed rhetoric and failed enforcement policies—policies which continue to hurt families and cost communities. People want real solutions to immigration. As we head into 2012, an election year, we can only hope that common sense and smarter policies prevail.
DHS Shuts Down 287(g) Agreement with Maricopa County Following DOJ Investigation, Restricts Secure Communities
01 month ago
Today, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano, announced that DHS will terminate its 287(g) agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and restrict access to the Secure Communities program, following damaging findings released by the Department of Justice (DOJ). After a three year long civil rights investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO)—an office led by America’s “toughest sheriff” Joe Arpaio—the DOJ announced today that it had “reasonable cause” to believe the Sheriff’s Office has “engaged in a pattern or practice of misconduct that violates the Constitution and federal law.”
In addition to the excessive use of force, the failure to investigate allegations of sexual assaults and practices that prevented the protection of Latino residents, the DOJ found reasonable cause to believe the Sheriff’s Office participated in:
- Discriminatory policing practices including unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos;
- Unlawful retaliation against individuals exercising their First Amendment right to criticize MCSO’s policies or practices, including but not limited to practices relating to its discriminatory treatment of Latinos; and
- Discriminatory jail practices against Latino inmates with limited English proficiency by punishing them and denying them critical services.
As if that weren’t enough, the DOJ also found that the Sheriff’s Office failed to implement policies guiding policing practices, allowed the use of unconstitutional practices, provided inadequate training and supervision, and lacked sufficient oversight and accountability.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is renowned for his “tough on immigration” media stunts, such as requiring detainees to wear pink underwear, segregating inmates, and marching shackled inmates to a tent city surrounded by an electric fence.
Following the investigation, the DOJ said that it will work with the Sheriff’s Office to develop and implement a comprehensive reform plan to address the violations and will even seek legal action if the office fails to cooperate. According to Assistant Attorney General for DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Thomas E. Perez:
Effective policing and constitutional policing go hand in hand … MCSO’s systematic disregard for basic constitutional protections has created a wall of distrust between the sheriff’s office and large segments of the community, which dramatically compromises the ability to protect and serve the people … We hope to resolve the concerns outlined in our findings in a collaborative fashion, but we will not hesitate to take appropriate legal action if MCSO chooses a different course of action.”
Today’s DOJ findings validate what many immigration advocates have been complaining about for years—that the systematic abuse of state immigration enforcement programs cannot go unchecked. DHS’s response curtailing cooperation with Maricopa County’s Sheriff Office is a step in the right direction, but there are many states and local immigration enforcement programs out there operating without oversight, accountability or guidelines for policing strategies. While Maricopa County represents the most egregious of these, DHS will hopefully now take a closer look at immigration enforcement programs across the board.
Photo by Gage Skidmore.
Federal Judge Blocks Yet Another Provision of Alabama’s Extreme Anti-Immigrant Law
01 month ago
As if people needed more proof that Alabama’s extreme anti-immigrant law, HB 56, is bad for the state, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of yet another provision of the law this week. U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson temporarily enjoined enforcement of Section 30 that, as applied, requires mobile home owners to provide proof of lawful status before renewing their registration. Judge Thompson’s ruling, in which he calls Alabama’s law “discriminatorily based,” is the latest in a series of blows to the harsh law—a law that even Alabama’s own attorney general and governor find problematic.
Judge Thompson ruled Monday that enforcement of Section 30—as applied to the requirement that individuals must prove legal status in order to renew mobile home registration—violates the Fair Housing Act. The case involved two unauthorized immigrants who sued Alabama because they could neither register their mobile homes in the state nor drive their unlicensed homes out of the state. According to Judge Thompson, Section 30 left these men—and their U.S. citizen children—“between a rock and a hard place.”
“They face civil and criminal liability for not paying their manufactured home tax, while simultaneously facing civil and criminal liability if they attempt to remove their homes from the state,” he wrote. “They can neither stay, nor can they go.”
In his ruling, Judge Thompson also commented that HB 56 is “discriminatorily based” given the difference in treatment of children in mixed-status homes and children in general. According to Judge Thompson, HB 56’s departs “from an established tradition in Alabama of assisting children regardless of their parents’ actions”—a difference he said is likely “driven by animus against Latinos.” Civil rights groups agree. The Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, and others lauded the judge’s ruling, which they say calls the law for what it is, “a race-based attack on Latinos and their ability to stay in their homes.”
In fact, a new report released by Human Rights Watch documents the widespread abuse or discrimination reported under the law. Alabama’s new law effectively “denies unauthorized immigrants and their families, including US citizen children, their basic rights, threatening their access to everyday necessities and equal protection of the law,” the report says.
Meanwhile, state leaders have been under fire from Alabama’s business community following the arrest of a visiting Mercedes executive and Honda employee under HB 56. In an about-face, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange recently sent a letter to state lawmakers recommending they repeal problematic sections of HB 56. And just last week, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced that he would revise the law following a complaint by the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), the state’s largest business organization.
Yet, despite overwhelming concern that HB 56 is hurting state—complaints from farmers, business groups, and the American Federation of Teachers, court rulings, and acknowledgements from conservative lawmakers that this law needs to be changed—there are still those, like state Sen. Scott Beason, the bill’s sponsor, who believe Alabama is “moving in (the) right direction.”
Clearly, the voices of those being hurt by Alabama’s immigration law may need to get even louder before people like state Sen. Beason wake up and notice the large enforcement elephant sitting in Alabama’s living room.
Photo by zimmytws.
New Report Shows Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs Create Jobs and Contribute to Economy
01 month ago
Economists readily acknowledge the economic contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs to the U.S. After all, we wouldn’t have one-quarter of all public companies in the U.S.—companies like Google, Yahoo!, and Intel which employed 220,000 people and generated more than $500 billion in one year—without them. But lost in that acknowledgement are the contributions of immigrant women entrepreneurs who last year made up 40% (or 980,575) of all immigrant business owners in the U.S. This week, a new report, Our American Immigrant Entrepreneurs: The Women, takes a closer look at these women and examines the obstacles and pathways to establishing successful businesses—businesses that have created American jobs and generated millions in taxable revenue.
According to the report, there was a significant rise in immigrant women entrepreneurship over the last 10 years. According to the Census, 575,750 foreign-born women who immigrated as adults claimed to be self-employed in their own business as of 2000. Ten years later, however, that number has increased to 980,575 or 40% of all immigrant business owners in the U.S.
But that success isn’t always easy to come by. Of the immigrant women interviewed, many faced gender bias and difficulties securing start-up capital. Many women also reported that banks were hesitant to provide start-up funds due to the small size of their businesses. Yet, through their own determination and help from friends, associations, networks, colleagues and families, these women were able to establish successful businesses.
Maria Sobrino, for example, came to the U.S. from Mexico and started her own dessert company, Lulu Desserts. She noticed the absence of a Mexican comfort food, gelatinas or flavored gelatins, and began experimenting with samples. Due to difficulties securing capital, Sobrino had to start small and constantly reinvest in her business. “Do you know how many people laughed at my idea of having gelatinas and selling them with a little jar three hundred cups a day that I was doing?” Sobrino asked. “Today we sell about fifty million cups a year of gelatin, and we distribute to supermarkets.” Lulu Desserts currently generates $9.2 million and employs a host of marketing, sales, and delivery personnel.
Sheela Murthy, an immigration attorney from India and graduate of Harvard Law School, agrees that a passion to succeed was essential in establishing her own law firm—a firm which today generates $4-5 million a year and employs 70 people. Rubina Chaudhary, also of India, had trouble securing capital for her engineering management firm at first. Now, however, as president of MARRS Services, Inc., she manages multimillion dollar public contracts, employs 50 full time staff, and consults with large public and private clients.
These are just some of the many stories of immigrant entrepreneur women who, despite gender and racial discrimination, started their own businesses. And they want nothing more than to create an easier path for other immigrant women to do the same. They recommend easier access to start-up capital and federal loans for women- and minority-owned business, reform of bureaucratic hurdles, access to clearer information on state and federal regulations, and a continued discussion on how to address the barriers women face in the workplace.
In fact, making it easier for all entrepreneurs—including immigrant women—to start businesses which create American jobs, stabilize communities, and generate millions in taxable revenue seems like something every American would be wise to support.
New Report Challenges Notion that Harsh Enforcement Measures Drive Unauthorized Immigrants Out
01 month ago
Last week, a new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center found that nearly two-thirds of all unauthorized adult immigrants currently living in the U.S. (10.2 million) have been here for at least 10 years and nearly half of them (4.7 million) are parents of minor children. The longevity of their U.S. residency and pattern of parenthood suggest that these unauthorized immigrants are integrated into American society, challenging the notion that ramped-up enforcement measures like Arizona’s SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56 are effectively driving unauthorized immigrants back to their countries of origin.
Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 Current Population Survey, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that:
- 35% of unauthorized adult immigrants have resided in the U.S. for 15 years or more (a number that doubled since 2000)
- 28% for 10 to 14 years
- 22% for 5 to 9 years
- and 15% for less than five years (a number that has fallen by half since 2000)
Pew also found that nearly half of all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. (4.7 million) are parents of minor children. Additionally, Pew estimates that roughly 9 million people in the U.S. live in a mixed-status home—meaning that at least one immigrant parents is undocumented and at least one child is U.S. born.
After living in the U.S. for 10 years or more, many in mixed-status homes, it’s reasonable to assume that these unauthorized immigrants are integrated into American society—they live here, they send their children to school here, they go to church here, they pay taxes here. The idea that harsh state immigration enforcement policies are “working”—that is, forcing unauthorized immigrants to return home—just doesn’t seem to hold water.
As Pew’s report concludes, the data “reflects the fact that relatively few long-duration unauthorized immigrants have returned to their countries of origin.” While some may return to their home countries, others likely migrate to neighboring states, states where they have family or can find work.
Clearly, the current enforcement-only approach to addressing immigration isn’t working. In fact, state immigration laws like Alabama’s HB 56 are actually hurting states’ economies—wasting scant resources, burdening state businesses, stirring distrust in communities and creating a hostile environment that will likely steer foreign investments elsewhere.
What we need, say experts like Doug Massey of Princeton University, is an earned path to legalization—a path that even conservative voters think is necessary. According to Massey, given the recent post-recession dip in migration from Mexico and the apparent lack of self-deportation of unauthorized immigrants who have long resided in the U.S., “there is really only one thing that remains to be accomplished … the creation of a pathway to legalization for long-term undocumented residents.”
Until then, Congress and states legislatures will continue to waste time, resources and money on enforcement measures that do nothing to address the realities of our broken and outdated immigration system.
Photo by Nathan Gibbs.
Alabama’s Immigration Law Digs Deeper Hole for State Economy
02 months ago
Although some Alabama lawmakers credit the state’s overall drop in unemployment to their new immigration law (HB 56), the reality is that many industries and sectors in the state are losing workers and jobs. This week, the Birmingham News reported that Alabama’s construction industry is losing jobs faster than nearly any other state—a loss experts say is due in part to HB 56’s draconian provisions. To make matters worse, Alabama’s crackdown on those who look or sound foreign (a Honda employee stopped this week and the arrest of a Mercedes executive last week) is causing many to fear Alabama’s anti-immigrant reputation will detract foreign investors from doing business in the state. In fact, according to the Tuscaloosa News, “the law is becoming the greatest threat to the state’s economy and job creation, overshadowing even the record-setting bankruptcy of Jefferson County.”
This week, the Associated General Contractors found that construction-related employment in Alabama fell from 85,900 in June (when the law passed) to 80,700 in October. Construction employment also fell in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area from 24,900 in June to 23,800 in October according to the group. Henry Hagood, head of Alabama Associated General Contractors chapter, said that although there are many reasons for the drop, “some of it has to do with the immigration law. Crews have left the state. That’s not the only reason for the numbers. Our market is down at the bottom. Every little thing, when you don’t have as much work, contributes to it.”
Samuel Addy, an economist at the University of Alabama, estimated that Alabama’s economy will shrink by $40 million if undocumented workers are driven from the state since U.S. workers are unlikely to fill those jobs.
“Only a small number of jobs vacated by illegal workers will be filled by legal residents,” Addy said, “so the state will suffer a net loss in productivity. It reduces demand … the economy will contract.”
And the law’s broad enforcement requirements aren’t helping the state’s reputation either. Following the ticketing of Honda employee this week and the arrest of Mercedes executive last week, experts worry that Alabama’s law will damage the state’s prospects for future investment. Mercedes—as well as Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai—currently have manufacturing plants in Alabama which create thousands of jobs and generate billions in economic benefits.
Leading business consultant Mark Sweeney—whose job is to scout locations for companies such as Boeing, Caterpillar, Mercedes and Michelin for future invest—however, said Alabama’s immigration law isn’t doing the state any favors.
“There’s nothing good about it. I can’t see any positives in terms of economic development … Alabama has worked so hard to reinvent itself as a destination for global manufacturing. It’s really been a remarkable transformation,” he said. “Unfortunately, this law really is counter to that effort.”
Although concerns such as labor costs, tax rates, and land availability often factor into companies investment decisions, “softer measures” like quality of life, business climate, schools and welcoming environments also play a roll, Sweeney said. “It all matters. It could come into play at the end, when they’re trying to make a final decision and it’s a very close call … The scary thing is, you may be losing prospects that you never even know about.”
Just this week, in fact, the Tuscaloosa News reported that a Chinese company is thinking twice about putting a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama because “they feel they aren’t welcome because of the immigration law.”
While Alabama lawmakers have discussed “tweaking” the law to account for its effect on businesses, they are adamant about not repealing it. Further enforcement of HB 56, however, will only continue to paint the state as anti-immigrant and drive business elsewhere. Apparently, appearing tough on immigration is more important to Alabama legislators than the economic well-being of their state.