State and Local
Mississippi Lawmaker Kills State’s Extreme Immigration Bill, Although Immigration Provisions May Loom
Today, Mississippi’s extreme immigration bill, HB 488, died after a state senate committee chairman decided not to bring the bill up for a vote. The Mississippi Senate had until today to consider HB 488, a bill that would have, among other things, allowed police officers to determine the immigration status of individuals they “reasonably suspect” are in the country without documents. While HB 488 is dead, however, state House members may still be looking to keep these immigration enforcement measures alive by inserting them in other bills. Read More
Mississippi Farming, Law Enforcement Groups Urge Lawmakers to Oppose State Immigration Law
Economists aren’t the only ones who think a patchwork of costly state immigration laws is a terrible idea. This week, Mississippi farming and law enforcement groups each sent separate letters urging state lawmakers to reconsider moving forward with Mississippi’s extreme immigration law, HB 488. The groups call the law an “unfunded mandate” and cite the burdensome costs to taxpayers, the discriminatory nature of the law, and the potential loss of tourism, foreign investment and economic development for the state. The Mississippi House passed the bill, which prohibits undocumented immigrants from entering business transactions with the state and allows law enforcement to determine the immigration status of individuals whom they “reasonably suspect” is in the country without documents during an arrest, earlier this month. The Mississippi Senate has until April 3 to consider the bill before it dies. Read More
Court Upholds Ban on Restrictive Immigration Law in Farmers Branch, Texas
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling this week enjoining a law enacted in Farmers Branch, Texas, that bars undocumented immigrants from renting housing in the city and revokes the licenses of landlords who knowingly rent to them. The restrictive law, which passed in 2008, was struck down two years ago by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle, who found the law to be unconstitutional. In its ruling this week, the appeals court found the Farmers Branch law to be discriminatory since it “excludes” undocumented immigrants, “particularly Latinos, under the guides of policing housing.” The court opined: "Because the sole purpose and effect of this ordinance is to target the presence of illegal aliens within the City of Farmers Branch and to cause their removal, it contravenes the federal government's exclusive authority over the regulation of immigration and the conditions of residence in this country.” Read More
Supreme Court Brief on SB 1070: Arizona Seeking Confrontation, not Cooperation
When Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wagged her finger in President Obama’s face at a Phoenix airport earlier this year, she may have been seeking to score political points with the White House’s ideological opponents. What the governor may not have realized, however, is that she was giving the Obama administration the photographic equivalent of its closing argument in the legal challenge to SB 1070—namely, that Arizona is more interested in confronting the federal government than cooperating with it. Read More
States Continue to Propose Tuition Equity for Undocumented Immigrants
While some state lawmakers continue to push extreme “get tough” immigration enforcement measures through their state houses, others are contemplating the benefits of having more highly educated students in their state. In Indiana, for example, one Republican lawmaker recently amended an education bill to grant in-state tuition to undocumented students already enrolled in state schools, asking “if they’re going to be living here anyway, why not let them be productive members of Indiana society?” Lawmakers in other states, including Colorado and New York, are also pushing for better access to higher education for qualifying undocumented students. Read More
Is Mississippi About to Make a Costly Mistake on Immigration?
Either Mississippi lawmakers aren’t aware of the hefty fiscal and legal burdens brought on by harsh immigration legislation in other states, or they just don’t care. This week, the Mississippi House passed HB 488, an immigration enforcement bill that allows local law enforcement to determine the immigration status of individuals during an arrest whom they “reasonably suspect” is in the country without documents. The bill, which passed out of the House by a vote of 70-47 this week, also makes it illegal for undocumented immigrants to enter into business transactions with the state, including the issuance of business and drivers licenses. The bill now goes to Mississippi’s Republican-controlled Senate. Read More
Being Anti-Immigrant Doesn’t Work in Politics, Even in the South
Alabama State Sen. Scott Beason outside the State House. While anti-immigrant sentiment may win candidates a few headlines, it certainly doesn’t resonate with every day voters. Following Alabama’s GOP primary this week, a CNN exit poll found that “illegal immigration” was not a top-of-mind issue for many Alabamians. According to the survey, only 3% of the respondents cited “illegal immigration” as the most important issue for them, trailing “the economy” at 59% and the nation’s “budget deficit” at 25%. Ironically, residents of the state with the toughest anti-immigrant law in the nation (HB 56) don’t see eye to eye with the legislators who pushed the law through the legislature last year. In fact, residents don’t seem to want anti-immigrant legislators representing them in Congress. Read More
Civil Rights Leaders Speak Out Against Alabama’s “Vile” Immigration Law
Late last week, thousands gathered on the steps of Alabama’s capitol building to hear civil rights leaders—Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, among others—speak out against the state’s extreme immigration law, HB 56. Although key provisions of Alabama’s law have been enjoined by federal courts, the law still requires police to verify the immigration status of anyone stopped or arrested whom they suspect is in the country without documents. The leaders, who were also protesting a new voter ID law, called HB 56 the “most vile” law in the country. Read More
Appeals Court Blocks Two More Provisions of Alabama’s Extreme Immigration Law
The U.S Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit temporarily enjoined two more controversial provisions of Alabama’s extreme immigration law (HB 56), adding to the list of enjoined provisions. Yesterday, the 11th Circuit blocked Section 27, which bars Alabama courts from enforcing a contract with an unlawfully present person, and Section 30, which makes it a felony for an undocumented immigrant to enter into a “business contract” (including business licenses, mobile home registration and basic utilities, like water, gas, and electric services) with the state. The sections of Alabama’s law that remain in effect include the “papers please” provision, which requires law enforcement officers to determine the legal status of those when stopped or arrested whom they have reasonable suspicion to believe is in the U.S. without documents, as well as an E-Verify provision. Read More
Mother Jones Exposes Inner Workings of the Self-Deportation Movement
In its March/April issue, Mother Jones Magazine goes “inside the self-deportation movement,” exploring “164 state anti-immigration bills and the forces behind them.” The concept of “self deportation,” popularized by GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, is central to the philosophy of “attrition through enforcement.” The basic idea is that, if you make life hard enough for unauthorized immigrants, they will pick up and leave of their own accord, which means the state will not have to hunt them down, detain them, and deport them. Read More
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