Seeking Solutions Can Utah’S Approach to Immigration Offer a Way Forward for Other States?
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A SPECIAL REPORT: IMMIGRATION AND THE STATES Seeking Solutions Can Utah’s approach to immigration offer a way forward for other states? “We’re going to crack BY ALAN GREENBLATT gal immigrants in the state contributed to an atmosphere of violence and they had lost faith down on the illegals who are tah legislators are crafting a compro- in the federal government to take meaningful here in the country, but at the mise on immigration law that could action. end up being a model for across-the- It now seemed to Herbert that if he asked same time there’s a need for aisle cooperation for other states. the Utah Legislature to reopen its immigra- migrant workers.” ULast year, Republican Governor Gary tion bill, lawmakers might emulate Arizona’s Herbert signed a bill requiring employers to tough new approach instead of softening it. —UTAH REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN check the citizenship status of their new hires “The mood had changed,” says Utah Rep- SANDSTROM through the federal E-Verify system. He said resentative Stephen Sandstrom. he would sign it only if legislators agreed to Even though the number of illegal immi- Although much of the law was struck down come back later in special session to soften grants in the country had dropped from more by a federal judge a day before it took effect, the law, making the verification requirement than 12 million in 2006 to about 11.2 mil- Sandstrom still thinks Utah should follow voluntary for the first year. lion in 2010, according to the Pew Hispanic Arizona’s lead. Before the governor could call legislators Center, many people sup- Nonetheless, Sandstrom has been working back to Salt Lake City, however, Arizona had port tougher laws. National with legislators from both parties for months passed its controversial immigration law. polls following passage of on a version of the bill that would not only Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 required local the Arizona law showed a impose tougher penalties on illegal immi- police to check the immigration status of majority of Americans sup- grants and their employers, but also would individuals they had reason to suspect were ported the legislation, and allow new immigrants into the country to in the country illegally. Many lawmakers even larger majorities sup- meet specific workforce needs. Sandstrom there believed the estimated 500,000 ille- ported individual aspects of REPRESENTATIVE insists this hybrid approach is “not a compro- the law, such as making it a STEPHEN mise.” SANDSTROM Alan Greenblatt is a freelance writer in St. Louis, Mo. He is crime to support someone “It’s kind of the carrot and the stick,” he a frequent contributor to State Legislatures. who is an illegal immigrant. UTAH says. “We’re going to crack down on the ille- 12 state LegisLatures MARCH 2011 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? THE COST CALCULUS t’s difficult to get a firm sense of just I how much illegal immigrants cost states, cities and counties in areas such as education, health care and law enforce- ment. Last July, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) put the cost to states and localities at $84.2 billion a year. FAIR is an anti-immigrant group, but studies from other sources also have shown that significant costs are involved. A 2007 Congressional Budget Office report found the cost of services to illegal immigrants fall mostly on states, counties and cities. Other studies of individual states, however, have found a net benefit to Source: Pew Hispanic Center, 2008 states. A 2004 Arizona study estimated total state revenue from immigrant work- ers was about $2.4 billion, with $1.5 bil- “Obviously, an enforcement-only approach is not going to work. lion coming from illegal immigrants and That is what we’ve been doing for the last several decades, $860 million from naturalized citizens. The cost of education, health care and and it’s been a failure.” law enforcement was $1.4 billion, mean- —ARIZONA SENATOR KYRSTEN SINEMA ing the state came out ahead by $940 mil- lion. A Texas study estimated total state gals who are here in the country, but at the recently, the federal Immigration and Nation- revenues from unauthorized immigrants same time there’s a need for migrant work- ality Act of 1965 eliminated country-specific to be $1.58 billion in FY 2005, while ers.” quotas and nearly doubled the number of the total cost of providing state services If the bill passes, it may provide a model legal immigrants who could enter the country. was $1.16 billion, leaving a net benefit of for other states that are still looking for the The 1986 Immigration Reform and Con- $424 million in FY 2005. Counties and best ways to address illegal immigration. trol Act granted legal status to 2.7 million cities, however, faced an additional $1.44 illegal immigrants and tried to curb future billion in health care and law enforce- MIXED HISTORY illegal immigration by establishing penalties ment costs that were not reimbursed by Congress has been unable for years to for employers who knowingly hired them. the state. come up with any sort of approach that can Another law in 1996 increased the number of The Congressional Budget Office satisfy those concerned with the public safety border control agents and made illegal immi- report found “over the long term, tax and costs associated with illegal immigra- grants ineligible for Social Security benefits. revenues of all types generated by immi- tion, while also satisfying those who believe The law even made legal immigrants entering grants—both legal and unauthorized— removing more than 11 million illegal immi- the country after 1996 were made ineligible exceed the cost of the services they use. grants from the country would cause eco- for programs such as food stamps and Medic- However, many estimates also show that nomic chaos and human rights abuses. A aid for five years. the cost of providing public services to Congress now under divided control will unauthorized immigrants at the state and likely make little progress at all. STATES TAKE DIFFERENT PATHS local levels exceeds what that population “Continuing political stalemate is the most For several years now, states have adopted pays in state and local taxes.” likely scenario. Congress is not going to act,” different approaches to the issue. Some have The report notes that illegal immi- says Stephen Camarota, director of research tried to help illegal immigrants become more grants are barred from receiving many at the Center for Immigration Studies, which productive by offering in-state tuition rates services provided by the federal govern- favors a tough approach on immigration. to their children or setting up state offices ment through Social Security or Medic- There have been laws restricting immi- designed to promote a smoother integration aid, for example. grants since the late 19th century. More into society. MARCH 2011 state LegisLatures 13 process, it’s clear legislators in a number of “The fundamental premise of any discussion on immigration states are interested in copying many of its policy rests with the failed federal policies—the abject, dismal, provisions. The main portions of that law pathetic failure of the federal government to do what it is have not survived court scrutiny as yet, how- ever. Another idea that some legislators are constitutionally mandated to do.” considering—challenging the citizenship of all native-born children under the 14th —UTAH SENATOR CURTIS BRAMBLE Amendment—is guaranteed to provoke even Arizona Senator Kyrsten not all state-level legislation is restrictive and more battles in the courts. Sinema says that although anti-immigrant.” Although states may be pushing the limit legislators have to give State lawmakers have passed numerous bills by crafting policy in an area that is primar- police and prosecutors the addressing worker shortages in different sec- ily a federal responsibility, that doesn’t mean tools they need to combat tors, and helping legal immigrants with hous- they won’t keep trying. Many state lawmak- law-breaking, it’s incum- ing, employment, education and other things. ers of both parties believe the federal govern- bent upon both Congress Most attention, however, continues to focus ment isn’t living up to its responsibility to SENATOR and the states to figure out on laws that make life more difficult for ille- address the issue, despite recent efforts to step KYRSTEN SINEMA a more “comprehensive” gal immigrants and those who hire or house up border enforcement. ARIZONA strategy for coping with the them. It’s been a big shift from the trends that “The fundamental prem- millions of illegal immi- were prevalent a decade ago. ise of any discussion on grants already in the country than just deport- “It does seem that the people who want immigration policy rests ing them. “Obviously, an enforcement-only enforcement are somewhat better organized with the failed federal poli- approach is not going to work,” Sinema says. at the state level,” Camorata says. cies—the abject, dismal, “That is what we’ve been doing for the last But after having enacted hundreds of laws pathetic failure of the fed- several decades and it’s been a failure.” regarding illegal immigration over the last eral government to do what SENATOR Suman Raghunathan, an immigration pol- few years, it’s not clear how much stricter it is constitutionally man- CURTIS BRAMBLE icy specialist for the Progressive States Net- states can get. If provisions of the Arizona dated to do,” said Repub- UTAH work, says that “contrary to popular belief, law are restored through the federal appeals lican Utah Senator Curtis Bramble in a debate on immigration policy just before the Legislature convened.