University of Tulsa College of Law TU Law Digital Commons Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works 2009 The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act: Blowing Off tS eam or Setting Wildfires? Elizabeth McCormick
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/fac_pub Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation 23 Geo. Immigr. L. J. 293 (2009). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by TU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works by an authorized administrator of TU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE OKLAHOMA TAXPAYER AND CITIZEN PROTECTION ACT: BLOWING OFF STEAM OR SETTING WILDFIRES? ELIZABETH MCCORMICK* ABSTRACT This article considers Oklahoma's recent experiment in immigration regulation and examines how it is that Oklahoma has found itself on the front lines of the illegal immigration debate. The article begins with a discussion of the rich history of immigration to and immigrants in Oklahoma. It then attempts to unpack the evolution of Oklahoma's illegal immigration crisis and understand the genesis and the impacts of the state's comprehensive but perhaps exaggerated response to the perceived crisis. Finally, using Oklaho- ma's experience as an example, the article argues that a "steam valve" model of immigration federalism is no longer an apt description of sub-federal immigration lawmaking. Rather than allowing states to blow off their anti-immigrant steam, this article argues that allowing individual states to enact immigration control measures locally provides a dangerous mechanism for national anti-immigrant groups to accomplish through a state-by-state lobbying effort what they have been unable to achieve at the national level.