Legislation
Alabama’s Extreme Immigration Law Could Cost State Billions, Report Finds
Implementing Alabama’s extreme immigration law (HB 56) would be incredibly expensive. That is the bottom line of a new report by University of Alabama economist Samuel Addy entitled A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the New Alabama Immigration Law. According to the report, the law could cost Alabama up to $11 billion in GDP and nearly $265 million in state income and sales tax. The loss includes 1) implementation, enforcement, and litigation expenditures; 2) increased costs and inconveniences for citizens and legal residents and businesses; 3) reduced economic development opportunities because it creates a poor business climate; and 4) the economic impact of reduced aggregate demand due to some unauthorized immigrants leaving and therefore not earning and spending income in the state. Read More
Following State of the Union, President Obama Needs to Follow Through on Immigration Reforms
The President’s State of the Union address this week re-iterated some of his key themes on immigration—support for comprehensive reform, dismay that DREAM Act students and foreign students educated in this country have no way to legalize their status, and a belief that he’s done enough to the secure the border. More importantly, he framed these themes in context to America’s economic recovery, innovation and growth. However, while any mention of immigration in the State of the Union is welcome, it’s what the President didn’t say that may have more of an impact on how his administration is remembered this year on immigration—and how his vision is measured by voters in the coming election. Read More
Advocates Call Romney’s Relationship with Anti-Immigrant Hawk “Political Suicide”
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. Read More
Celebrating a Legislative Victory for Refugees and Religious Freedom
Iranian Jewish men pray during Hanukkah celebrations at the Yousefabad Synagogue in Tehran, Iran. BY MELANIE NEZER, HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY (HIAS) Tucked into the fiscal year 2012 spending bill the President signed before the holidays was an extension of a provision known as the “Lautenberg Amendment.” The inclusion of the extension is good news for refugees seeking religious freedom at a time when Congress has deadlocked on immigration issues and legislative victories are few and far between. Read More
Just in Time for the Holidays: Congress Moves 4 Million Children Closer to Poverty
Congress has been unable to pass any meaningful immigration legislation this year, but the House couldn’t miss a chance to stick it to immigrants by going after their U.S. citizen children in a recent tax bill. While Americans are debating whether taxes on millionaires should be raised, the House, at least, is planning to raise taxes on the most vulnerable of American citizens. Read More
Alabama’s Immigration Law Digs Deeper Hole for State Economy
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.” Read More
Thousands Rally for Repeal of Alabama’s Extreme Anti-Immigrant Law
Thousands gathered outside the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday to demand the repeal of the state’s harsh anti-immigration law, HB 56. Religious, community and civil rights leaders, as well as a special Congressional delegation, urged state legislators to bring an end to Alabama’s immigration law—a law which continues to slow state businesses, separate families and drive immigrants from the state. The Congressional delegation also held an ad hoc hearing at Birmingham City Hall to hear how the controversial law is effecting state residents, especially the Latino and immigrant communities where, according to Rep. Luis Gutierrez, “the feeling of danger and despair is palpable.” One Congressional member, Rep. Al Green of Texas, commented that the law "deserves to be placed on the trash heap of history." Read More
Policing the Enforcers: Criminalizing Alabama Employees Encourages Discrimination
Alabama lawmakers want undocumented immigrants to be so afraid of the consequences of the state’s new anti-immigrant law (HB 56) that they leave the state. However, that’s not the only fear factor built into the law. Under section 6(f), state and local government employees must report violations of HB 56—which includes unlawfully present immigrants even attempting to complete a business transaction with the government—or face criminal penalties. In order to avoid criminal prosecution, government employees are likely to be suspicious of foreign-looking or sounding people. But the new law does not include details or require specialized training for state employees, making discrimination, mistakes and civil rights violations all the more likely. Read More
Arizona’s SB1070 Champion, State Senator Russell Pearce, Loses in Recall Election
Arizona state senator Russell Pearce, the leading force behind Arizona’s SB 1070 and other anti-immigrant legislation, was defeated in a recall election Tuesday. Fellow Republican Jerry Lewis—a moderate on immigration issues—won with 54% of the vote. Citing Pearce’s narrow anti-immigrant agenda and the damage SB 1070 inflicted on the state, a group called Citizens for a Better Arizona began the recall effort back in January. Today, many in Arizona and across the U.S. celebrate Pearce’s defeat as a victory for practical solutions over extremist rhetoric and anti-immigrant proposals. Pearce is believed to be the first Arizona state legislator to face a recall election. Read More
Provisions in Alabama’s Immigration Law Go Further Than You Think
It’s no stretch to call Alabama’s new immigration law (HB 56) extreme—especially the provision (since enjoined) which required schools to check the immigration status of students and made it a criminal misdemeanor for an unauthorized immigrant to fail to carry immigration documentation. Two provisions that may have flown under the radar, however, are the contract and business transaction which infringe on individuals’ ability to navigate everyday life (such as access to water) and leave them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Sadly, this is exactly what the law’s author had in mind. A new report, Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction Provisions in Alabama's Immigration Law Make Life Harder For Everyone, analyzes just how far these provisions go. Read More
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