Arizona immigration law: Other states mull own versions of migrant law

Lawmakers in at least nine U.S. states have introduced or plan to craft legislation that mirrors Arizona's tough new immigration law. But they face an uphill battle in getting such measures enacted.

Arizona reignited national debate over border security and related issues when Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 on April 23. Although immigration topics have long been at the forefront of the political spectrum here, they are now being discussed with renewed vigor from coast to coast.

Republican politicians in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah and elsewhere are seizing on the issue in a midterm-election year in which they have high hopes of gaining ground against their Democratic counterparts.

But they must overcome numerous obstacles.

For some, their legislative sessions are drawing to a close, leaving them virtually no time to drum up support for new legislation. Many also are running into opposition from political colleagues at the state capitols or in the governors offices.

In short, few other states have the unique combination of circumstances and political leadership that allowed SB 1070 to become law.

Still, many political strategists and experts believe the door is open for copycat legislation.

"I do certainly think there is momentum (for that)," said Kris W. Kobach, the attorney for the Immigration Reform Law Institute who helped craft SB 1070.

"Each state has its own political environment, including who is in control, but the one thing the states all have in common right now is the enormous fiscal cost of immigration," Kobach said.

"There are significant fiscal savings to be accrued if a state can discourage illegal aliens from coming or if it can encourage them to leave."

Other states

Economic pressures are one of the several reasons Pennsylvania Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican, said he introduced legislation modeled after Arizona's new law.

Other motivations include national security and an increase in crime, said Metcalfe, who readily admits his effort will likely be shot down.

"We do have a governor who has said he would veto it, and Democrats are in control of the House," Metcalfe said. "So, it might not be this session. But I do think it will ultimately be successful here. If not this session, then next year."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, state efforts to tackle immigration-related issues have climbed dramatically in recent years.

In 2006, 570 immigration-related bills were introduced, resulting in the enactment of 84 new laws.

In 2009, more than 1,500 bills were introduced, 222 laws were enacted and 131 resolutions were adopted. Many dealt with curbing or restricting benefits to those in the country illegally, human trafficking and other law-enforcement issues.

In recent weeks, lawmakers in at least nine states - Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Maryland and Ohio - have said they planned to model legislation after SB 1070.

Michigan lawmaker Kim Meltzer is one of them. Her proposal is still being drafted, but she hopes to introduce it soon. She's not sure it will have enough support to become law but said many of her colleagues indicated they want to co-sponsor it.

"I am hoping that what's transpired in Arizona will wake up the minds who thought this wasn't relevant (here)," said Meltzer, a Republican member of the state's House of Representatives.

Past precedent

If other states start passing legislation modeled after SB 1070, it wouldn't be the first time Arizona set the tone for immigration-related laws.

In 2004, 56 percent of Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which denies public benefits to people in the country illegally.

In the years that followed, at least 10 other states, including Missouri, passed similar laws, political experts said.

Republican Missouri legislator Mark Parkinson co-authored that state's 2008 legislation. He now plans to introduce SB 1070-modeled legislation in the coming year.

In addition to Proposition 200, other states, including Mississippi and South Carolina, also piggybacked off Arizona's employer-sanctions law, a bill that levies fines against employers found to have hired illegal immigrants.

Political climate

The big unknown at this point, political experts say, is how many politicians will be willing to tackle a controversial issue like immigration in an election year.

Although a tough stance on the topic tends to sit well with Republican voters, giving candidates a potential boost in the primaries, it could come back to haunt them in the general election, according to some political strategists.

"The Republican Party has to be very careful how they handle the issue," said Steve Lombardo, a consultant who worked on the presidential campaign for George H.W. Bush in 1992.

"It's very, very difficult to articulate an immigration-reform vision without sounding like you are against immigrants."

That could especially be true in Arizona, where almost one-third of registered voters identify themselves as independents," Lombardo said.

All three of Brewer's principal competitors in the Republican primary said they supported the bill.

But it remains to be seen how it will impact voting in the general election, where the winner of the Republican primary is expected to face presumptive Democratic nominee Terry Goddard, who opposes the law.

Already, Republicans in the border states of Texas and California have taken a more moderate stance on immigration.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he had "concerns with portions of the law passed in Arizona" and believes it "would not be the right direction for Texas."

Outgoing California Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger called Arizona's law a "mess" and joked about it in public appearances.

Niels Frenzen, an immigration lawyer and director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of South California, said politicians in many states, particularly California, are trying to take a more "tempered" approach to the issue.

Many, he said, still remember the backlash that followed passage of Proposition 187 in California in 1994. Provisions of the bill, which sought to cut off public services to illegal immigrants, were ultimately declared unconstitutional.

"Republicans realized they alienated a lot of Latinos and Asians who were naturalized citizens," Frenzen said.

Polls suggest there is strong support for Arizona's law.

A Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday indicated that 63 percent of people nationally support allowing police to question anyone they think might be in the country illegally and that 59 percent approve of Arizona's new law.

Brewer said that she believes Arizona will be the model for change and that politicians in other states will tackle the issue in the coming months or next year.

"According to the letters and e-mails and calls and input from everybody, I do (think those efforts will be successful)," Brewer told The Republic on Wednesday.

"I think people understand that we are a nation of laws. And we need to have our borders secured."

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