Thread: TN efforts to copy Arizona immigration law bring fears

TN efforts to copy Arizona immigration law bring fears

By Nate Rau • THE TENNESSEAN • December 5, 2010


Comments (204)

An Arizona-like state law on illegal immigration will be one of the first things Tennessee's new Republican-dominated legislature will consider next year.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is working on a Tennessee version of the controversial Arizona law that made it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It also gave local police power to question and detain anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

Ketron said he expects to file his bill by Thursday.

"You can't deny how (illegal immigration) is affecting us, from education to health care to the judicial system to incarceration, and more importantly the number of jobs it's taken away," he said.

On the other side of the issue are those who believe a law would unnecessarily heighten tensions and could get in the way of legitimate federal efforts to deal with the most serious immigration cases.

The push for the law is the product of a determined campaign by conservative state lawmakers across the country and their supporters to widen the Arizona effort. At least one Nashville business, the large private prison company Corrections Corporation of America, has contributed significantly to politicians in Tennessee who support the law and is a member of an organization promoting the law.

CCA says it has not taken a stand on any immigration legislation, but observers point out that the company would benefit if such laws prompted a need for new detention centers to open.

A Tennessean survey of campaign finance records shows that CCA, its officers and their families contributed more than $95,000 to campaigns in the state this past election cycle. The company also had five lobbyists on its payroll working at the Tennessee legislature this year. CCA earns as much as 12 percent of its revenue from contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Behind the scenes is the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a Washington, D.C., think tank that provided Ketron with a template for his bill. ALEC, a national nonprofit organization for GOP state legislators, has Tennessee lawmakers as members. CCA is a corporate member and attended a meeting this year where the think tank adopted the Arizona law as model immigration legislation.

Private prison critics fear that CCA will use its influence to pass the Arizona law in Tennessee, while immigrant advocates point to the devastating effect the law could have on the state's economy. CCA officials deny any such legislative agenda.

"The bigger issue is that when you criminalize immigrant families, there are winners and there are losers," said Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. "The winners are executives from the prison corporations and the legislators they fund. The losers are local taxpayers, immigrant workers and their U.S. citizen children."

Ketron plays key roles

Ketron has been at the forefront of political efforts on illegal immigration in Tennessee. Two years ago, he sponsored a bill that punished businesses for knowingly hiring illegal labor, which he believes is not being enforced fully by the Tennessee Department of Labor. In the most recent legislative session, he sponsored a resolution praising Arizona for its new law, then flew there with a contingent of other Tennessee lawmakers to formally present Gov. Jan Brewer with a copy of that resolution.

"As a lawmaker I can't turn a blind eye to the word illegal," Ketron said.
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A federal judge has ruled much of the Arizona law unconstitutional, and the case is under appeal.

Attorneys have been working with Ketron and state Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, to ensure their bill is in line with the state constitution.

According to a statewide poll sponsored by the Tennessee Newspaper Network this summer, 72 percent of registered Tennessee voters support the Arizona immigration law.

Opponents of Arizona's law believe it could lead to racial profiling by police. But proponents say illegal immigration had gotten out of hand in Arizona and federal immigration authorities have been too lax in enforcing federal laws.

The starting point for Ketron was a draft bill provided by ALEC, which has quietly become a trusted resource for conservative lawmakers, including a contingent from Tennessee. Earlier this year, six members from the state House of Representatives attended ALEC's annual conference in San Diego. Taxpayers paid for the trip at a cost of $15,000.

State Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, who attended the August trip, said lawmakers used the conference to get ideas for new legislation.

"You literally look at legislation that other states have passed or are proposing," Haynes said. "You sit around a table and discuss it, and then you vote on the legislation you think should be model legislation" for ALEC.

But ALEC comprises more than just legislators. Corporations also sponsor the organization and attend its conferences. Among those is CCA, though the prison company stated on its website that it does not vote on proposed model legislation.

CCA has vehemently denied that it played a role in pushing the Arizona law.

"We have given no support of any kind or opposition," CCA spokesman Steve Owen said. "We've had zero involvement with any immigration law in any part of the country, including Arizona."

However, CCA was at least in the room as ALEC adopted the Arizona law as the model legislation that is the premise for Ketron's bill. An ALEC representative said CCA attended the meetings where the model legislation was drafted.

"They can pay as a nonmember and come to a meeting and sit in on a task force meeting," said ALEC spokeswoman Raegan Weber. "To my knowledge, that is what CCA did. They had nothing to do with the construction of the bill."

CCA gives election cash

Most of the $95,000 in campaign contributions from CCA, its employees and their families went to state legislative races on both sides of the aisle. Gov.-elect Bill Haslam; state Rep. Beth Harwell, the likely next speaker of the House; and state Rep. Mike Turner, the House Democratic Caucus leader, were among the politicians to receive donations.

Also receiving contributions were Ketron and state Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, who is the Tennessee state chairman for ALEC. Todd was in the news last month for saying illegal immigrants "can go out there like rats and multiply." He later apologized for the remark.

In addition to the campaign contributions, CCA maintained five lobbyists at the state legislature in 2010.

Owen said the company has never lobbied or weighed in on immigration issues.

He added that CCA donates to candidates who support private-public partnerships — such as the six prisons and jails it operates in Tennessee — and does not question their stance on immigration issues.
The company's contract to house federal prisoners in Tennessee is with the U.S. Marshals Service. CCA houses "very few" ICE inmates at its West Tennessee facility, Owen said.

"I think if you look at who received campaign donations, you'd find those on all sides of the immigration issue," Owen said.

But one conservative lawmaker, state Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, said passing the Arizona law in Tennessee raises a critical question about housing immigration detainees with the current state corrections system already stretched thin.

Dennis helped pass a law last year requiring local jailers to notify ICE if they suspect an inmate is in the country illegally. He favors waiting to see if that law addresses the illegal immigration issue before considering the Arizona legislation.

He also noted that CCA stands to gain from Tennessee passing a law similar to Arizona's.

"Obviously, if you increase the number of folks that are being deported or processed through the federal immigration enforcement, you could potentially increase the need for those prison beds," Dennis said. "I imagine any private company that operates prisons could potentially benefit from that."

Law may hurt economy

GOP lawmakers and Haslam have said the economy and job creation are their top priorities when the legislature resumes in January. Immigration advocates warn that passing a law similar to Arizona's runs counter to that agenda.

Arizona has suffered $141 million in lost tourism and business travel revenue, according to a study released last month by the Center for American Progress, a self-styled progressive think tank.

Arizona lost meetings-related revenue from companies that took their business elsewhere in protest of the immigration law, according to the study.

Nashville attorney Gregg Ramos, a former state prosecutor in Arizona, worried that Tennessee could face a similar fate.

"That is what I want people in Tennessee to realize: This is a no-win situation for Tennessee," Ramos said. "We don't want these economic losses, especially when we're trying to pull ourselves out of a ditch and get this economy back on the road. It seems like it goes totally opposite of everything (Gov. Phil Bredesen) has done in trying to attract foreign businesses here to bring jobs."

Ramos also pointed to vast differences in the circumstances of Arizona compared with those of Tennessee.

Arizona shares a border with Mexico, and residents in the state saw firsthand the violence surrounding the drug trade in Mexico. Reports show that nearly half of the drugs seized along the U.S.-Mexico border are confiscated in Arizona, which also has been identified as a major artery for human trafficking.

"We don't have those border problems," Ramos said.

"We have problems, there's no two ways about it. We acknowledge that, and there's a way to deal with it rationally. But by bringing it (the Arizona law) to Tennessee, all we're going to be doing is creating more problems."
Immigration attorneys also are concerned that bringing the Arizona law to Tennessee could increase racial profiling. Ketron pointed out that the Arizona law had specific safeguards against profiling.

Elliott Ozment, who practices immigration law in Nashville, said he has several clients who are pondering lawsuits because they were pulled over by police officers in Tennessee for phony reasons.

Ozment said that, for Hispanics in Tennessee, the situation harks back to the pre-Civil Rights Act years of the 1960s.

One of Ozment's clients, Nashville resident Jose Luis Moreno-Munoz, was cited earlier this year for possession of a suspended driver's license, even though he was merely a passenger in a vehicle pulled over because the driver, also Hispanic, wasn't wearing a seat belt.

"People are very afraid. They are afraid to drive to work, they are afraid to have their car look a certain way with tinted windows," Moreno-Munoz said. "They feel like they can get pulled over and taken to jail for no reason."

http://oneoldvet.com/

www.tennessean.com

People are afraid...

Americans have been afraid, and they are sick of hearing the excuses for not enforcing the law. Senator Ketron is representing Tennesseans and the American people by attempting new legislation to address the horrible problem of illegal immigration in Tennessee. He has been faithful to work over the years to do something about the impacts.

The trip to Arizona that Tennessee lawmakers made obviously spurred them to go forward. The costs to Tennessee exceed 400 million dollars.

Psalm 139:14

Ozment said that, for Hispanics in Tennessee, the situation harks back to the pre-Civil Rights Act years of the 1960s.

This must be the new agreed upon talking point. Problem is, the majority of Americans, including our politicians scoff at the idea of illegals trying to equate themselves with African- Americans who were denied the vote because of race decrimination after this country outlawed slavery. Hispanics have always been allowed to vote in this country if they were legal citizens.

Both blacks and whites in America came here as slaves and survived, the illegals here are the ones that didn't stand for their own countries and left look for an easy time.

Where is the reparition?

White Slavery, what the Scots already know
by Kelly d. Whittaker



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A famous history professor stated that history was not a science but a continuing investigation into the past; a person’s conclusion is based on their own bias. This story will offer evidence that the Alba, Scots, Irish and Pics have been the longest race held in slavery. The reader will be responsible for their own bias pertaining to White Slavery.
Alexander Stewart was herded off the Gildart in July of 1747, bound with chains. Stewart was pushed onto the auction block in Wecomica, St Mary’s County, Maryland. Doctor Stewart and his brother William were attending the auction, aware of Alexander being on that slave ship coming from Liverpool England. Doctor Stewart and William were residents of Annapolis and brothers to David of Ballachalun in Montieth, Scotland. The two brothers paid nine pound six shillings sterling to Mr. Benedict Callvert of Annapolis for the purchase of Alexander. He was a slave. Alexander tells of the other 88 Scots sold into slavery that day in “THE LYON IN MOURNINGâ€