Today's Date: December 6, 2023
Home Improvement Company Leaf Home™ Donates In-Home Stair Lifts to Veterans in Need   •   Scope3 Expands Carbon Measurement Capabilities to Include DOOH Advertising   •   Frito Lay Canada is calling on Canadians to start a new holiday tradition: Leave chips out for Santa   •   UKG Earns 100% on Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index for the Third Consecutive Year   •   Avangrid Completes Installation of First Five Turbines, Prepares to Deliver First Power from Nation-Leading Vineyard Wind 1 Proj   •   Army Scholarship Foundation Enables Educational Dreams, Creates Future Leaders, Honors Families’ Sacrifices   •   Moskinto's Original Itch-Relief Patch, Recognized as a Good Housekeeping 2024 Family Travel Awards Winner   •   VNA Health Care President and CEO Linnea Windel Receives Silver Stevie® Award for Women in Business   •   700 LATINO LEADERS GATHER AT THE UNITED NATIONS TO AGREE ON THEIR COMMON AGENDA FOR A CRITICAL YEAR TO COME   •   Brazil's Pix Revolutionizes Digital Payments Landscape and Inspires LatAm Growth   •   Green Home Loans from PrimeLending Finance Energy Efficient Upgrades for Homeowners   •   Sun Life receives Equality 100 Award from Human Rights Campaign for 100% score on Corporate Equality Index for 15th consecutive   •   Timken Recognized by Newsweek as One of America's Most Responsible Companies for Fourth Year in a Row   •   Vonage CMO Joy Corso Wins 2023 Aragon Research Women in Technology Award for Marketing   •   Ingram Micro Again Earns Top Score in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index   •   Locally-Owned Adult-Use Craft Cannabis Cultivator Commences Operations in New Jersey   •   Start Saving for College with ScholarShare 529 and Get a $50 Target Gift Card*   •   Anahita Norouzi receives the 2023 MNBAQ Contemporary Art Award   •   MAX Solutions and Walker SCM Enter Joint Venture to Increase Customer Value   •   NOVELDA Announces New Ultra-Wideband Child Presence Detection (CPD) Sensor, Enabling Lifesaving Sensing for Automotive and IoT M
Bookmark and Share

How Much Will Arizona's Immigration Bill Cost?

Washington, D.C.- Frustrated by Congress' failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, states across the country continue considering legislation that relies heavily on punitive, enforcement-only measures which not only fail to end unauthorized immigration but also have the potential to dig their state's finances deeper into a hole. The latest example of this kind of policy nose dive is in Arizona. A recent bill, "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" (SB 1070), was passed by the Arizona State legislature and awaits the signature of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. As the Governor ponders whether or not to put her signature on SB 1070, she should consider the potential economic impact of the bill, which would require police to check a person's immigration status if they suspect that person is in the United States illegally. This bill, if it becomes law, will likely affect not only unauthorized immigrants, but all immigrants and Latinos in general. Given the vital role that immigrants and Latinos play in Arizona's economy, and considering Arizona's current budget deficit of $3 billion dollars, enacting SB 1070 could be a perilous move.

 
At a purely administrative level, Gov. Brewer should take into consideration the potential costs of implementation and defending the state against lawsuits. As the National Employment Law Project (NELP) points out in the case of other states that have passed harsh local immigration laws, Arizona would probably face a costly slew of lawsuits on behalf of legal immigrants and native-born Latinos who feel they have been unjustly targeted. This is in addition to the cost of implementation. For instance, NELP observes that "in Riverside, New Jersey, the town of 8,000 had already spent $82,000 in legal fees defending its ordinance" by the time it was rescinded in September, 2007. Also in 2007, the county supervisors in Prince William County, Maryland were unwilling to move forward with the police enforcement portion of an immigration law after they found that the price tag would be a minimum of $14 million for five years.
 
More broadly, Gov. Brewer should keep in mind that, if significant numbers of immigrants and Latinos are actually persuaded to leave the state because of this new law, they will take their tax dollars, businesses, and purchasing power with them. The University of Arizona's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy estimates that the total economic output attributable to Arizona's immigrant workers was $44 billion in 2004, which sustained roughly 400,000 full-time jobs. Furthermore, over 35,000 businesses in Arizona are Latino-owned and had sales and receipts of $4.3 billion and employed 39,363 people in 2002 - the last year for which data is available. The Perryman Group also estimates that if all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arizona, the state would lose $26.4 billion in economic activity, $11.7 billion in gross state product, and approximately 140,324 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time. Putting economic contributions of this magnitude at risk during a time of recession would not serve Arizona well.
 
With Arizona facing a budget deficit of more than $3 billion, Gov. Brewer might want to think twice about measures such as SB 1070 that would further imperil the state's economic future and try instead to find ways in which she can bring additional tax revenue to her state while pursuing smart enforcement that will actually protect Arizonans.
 
###
 
 
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC's mission is to shape a rational national conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. Through its research and analysis, IPC provides policymakers, the media, and the general public with accurate information about the role of immigrants and immigration policy on U.S. society. IPC reports and materials are widely disseminated and relied upon by press and policy makers. IPC staff regularly serves as experts to leaders on Capitol Hill, opinion-makers and the media. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.


Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News