Arizona’s Next Move: Exposing Illegals’ Education Costs

By Edwin S. Rubenstein

[b]The much-exaggerated "show me your papers" aspect of Arizona’s immigration law SB1070 is provoking national hysteria. But SB 1070 author, State Senator Russell Pearce, has another piece of legislation in the works that could ultimately be more devastating.

Senate Bill 1097 [PDF] will require public schools to identify and count students who are in the country illegally. The bill also requires Arizona’s Department of Education to determine the cost of educating such students and to research the "adverse impact" of their enrollment.

This apparently unexceptionable goal has Hispanic activists hyperventilating—one describes it as “the next step in Operation Wetback 2010â€