Immigration Fiefdoms

June 24, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

We are getting dangerously close to the point where yet another Congress will try to pass the problem of our broken immigration system off to another Congress.  An article in the June 24^th Washington Post reports on the growing trend of states and localities, frustrated with federal inaction, taking matters into their own hands.  Fremont, Nebraska, earlier this week passed by referendum an ordinance requiring employers in the town to use the federal E-Verify system to screen their workers, and prohibiting landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. 

Even before the Arizona’s SB 1070 passed earlier this year, there was an explosion of state and local ordinances on immigration.  The level of frustration with federal inaction is growing, with no end in sight. 

In the wake of SB 1070, five states, according to the Post are considering “Arizona style” legislation—South Carolina, Minnesota, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.  The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports that, by the end of the first quarter of this year, there were 1,180 bills and resolutions introduced in 45 states—a record.  NCSL tracks only state legislatures, so this does not include ordinances on the local level, such as Fremont’s. 

Viewed one way, laws like Arizona’s are a measure of the frustration people feel about federal inaction on immigration.  Even with one of the most troubled economies in the country, Arizona lawmakers decided to risk the high cost of making their own immigration policy, with all the controversy entailed.  The state now faces the prospect of boycotts, out-migration, and millions of dollars in legal fees.

Fremont, a town of just 25,000, will undoubtedly be spending a disproportionate part of its budget on legal challenges to its new law in the near future.

Ann Morse, of NCSL told the Post that legislators tell her that these actions are

“their way of signaling they want federal immigration reform to happen—… they’re working within the parameters they have and sometimes at the edge, trying to get federal attention.”

Not all of the laws and resolutions introduced in the states (and localities) aim to clamp down on illegal immigration.  Since Arizona’s Governor signed SB 1070 into law, dozens of communities have passed or are considering resolutions condemning the Arizona law or calling for a boycott of Arizona.  Princeton, New Jersey, recently decided to issue community identification cards, available to all residents regardless of immigration status.

The spectrum of views incorporated in new state laws and town ordinances are reflective of the frustration of the American people.  As NDN notes in this blog post, the very same Washington Post poll that touted majority support for Arizona’s law also showed majority support for comprehensive immigration reform that includes “a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements.”  Support for this practical solution to the immigration problem has been consistent over the last several years.

As time goes on, we are going to have hundreds of jurisdictions with their own immigration policies—until the courts step in and tell us that the proper way to act on our frustrations about the broken immigration system is to press Congress to own up its responsibility and reform the laws.  If it’s Congress that’s broken, then it’s our responsibility to fix Congress.

Image by Flickr user Claudio.Ar

Arizona State-Local Immigration Enforcement