The Truth About the Immigration Side-Show
We at News Taco have been wondering how all of these state level immigration laws were going to happen. What with budget shortfalls, unemployment, redistricting and such, what is the enforcement of these laws going to look like?
My inclination has been to think that it’s a matter of side-show politics taking center stage. State legislators have been lining up to propose and debate Arizona-type immigration bills (in 19 states at last count) because they made campaign promises and because it’s the kind of issue that politicians like. Newt Gingrich famously said that conservative politicians should find issues with 80 percent approval, stand next to them and wave. And Lamar Smith, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, recently called immigration a 70 percent issue. They’re playing the odds.
The question remains, though, what does this look like on the ground? Most of these Arizona type bills don’t have a funding plan – they are, for all their intent, unfunded mandates. And that’s just the most obvious problem. The Washington Post asks the same questions:
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.
And some state legislators have backed away from the most controversial parts of the Arizona law, which have been challenged in court by the federal government and others. A federal judge has put on hold some of its provisions, including those that would allow police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws, allow for warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants and criminalize the failure of immigrants to carry registration papers. The case is awaiting a ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
The cost of deporting the 12 million undocumented taxpayers who live in US is about $150 billion. Are they serious about that? As far as I can see, it looks like we’ll have to trudge through these next couple of years fending-off laws that have no staying power to begin with. Look for the immigration wedge to be used more frequently and more loudly as we get closer to 2012. After that, hopefully, we get to the work of real comprehensive immigration reform.
