States Ready to Pass Arizona-Inspired Immigration...

States Ready to Pass Arizona-Inspired Immigration Legislation

Under the 2008 legislation that Governor Mark Sanford (picture) signed into law, harboring or transporting illegal immigrants is also a state crime.

Over 1,000 pieces of legislation relating to illegal immigration have been introduced in 45 state legislatures since the beginning of 2010. There are about 17 states that have introduced legislation similar to Arizona’s law that would authorize officers to question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.

While most of these states are not expected to adopt the proposed measures, the Washington Post has identified three states that have the potential and political momentum to follow Arizona’s lead by passing tough illegal immigration laws next year. Those three states are South Carolina, Utah, and Oklahoma.

On Tuesday the Obama Administration filed for an injunction to stop the Arizona law from taking effect at the end of July. Citing the Constitution in its defense that the Federal government’s has the explicit and delegated power to deal with immigration policies, the Justice Department released a statement saying, “In our constitutional system, the power to regulate immigration is exclusively vested in the federal government. The immigration framework set forth by Congress and administered by federal agencies reflects a careful and considered balance of national law enforcement, foreign relations, and humanitarian concerns – concerns that belong to the nation as a whole, not a single state.”

While the federal government is challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s legal action, state governments see illegal immigration reform as imperative to national security and the financial sustainability of the federal government and state governments.

On Tuesday, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released its new study, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers. It estimates that illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers $113 billion a year. According to the study, state and local governments bear most of the expenditures – an estimated $84.2 billion of the $113 billion total cost.
FAIR found that education for the children of illegal immigrants represents the largest public expenditure, coming in at $52 billion, almost all of which is absorbed by state and local governments. Additionally, state governments face a deeper deficit of expenditures than the U.S. government. The federal government recoups approximately one-third of the costs of illegal immigration in the form of taxes. Conversely, states manage to recoup only 5 percent of their expenditures.

In stark contrast to federal inaction on the matter, last Thursday the second part of South Carolina’s immigration law came into effect. The law prohibits any business, regardless of size or industry, to employ illegal aliens. Under the 2008 legislation that Governor Sanford signed into law, harboring or transporting illegal immigrants is also a state crime. A tougher immigration bill was drafted a week after Arizona’s law was signed.

“We had a bill that was introduced this year that was very similar to the final version of the Arizona legislation. It was too late for us to move on it, but I have every expectation a new bill will be introduced in January,” said Republican state Sen. Larry Martin.
In 2007, Oklahoma adopted legislation that made it a felony to knowingly provide transport or shelter to an illegal immigrant and blocked illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses and tuition.

Seen as the toughest measures to date upon its passing, the lawmaker behind its creation, Republican state Rep. Randy Terrill, has expressed a desire to go even further than the Arizona law. He is proposing granting the state of Oklahoma the authority to seize property from businesses that knowingly employ illegal aliens. He argues the strong laws are necessary to combat the influx of Mexican drug cartel members leaving Arizona, and plans to introduce bill next year.

Similarly, Utah’s Republican state lawmakers have announced passing an Arizona-based law as a goal for next year. Several Republican representatives went to Arizona last week to see firsthand the effectiveness of the law.