It’s SB 1070 all over again for the Republican-controlled state Legislature.
And Arizonans will take the hit.
Six years ago Republican legislators passed one of the nation’s most stringent laws targeting undocumented immigrants. Then-Gov. Jan Brewer, also a Republican, signed the bill, unleashing a firestorm of controversy, national and international backlash and eventual repudiation by the federal courts, which invalidated most of the bill’s provisions.
That cost the state lots of money in litigation and loss of face. That, however, doesn’t seem to bother the current crop of Republican legislators who are pushing through several proposed laws that will cost taxpayers more money, criminalize immigrants and hamper refugee resettlement efforts in Arizona, said a coalition of community, immigrant and faith-based groups Thursday at a news conference at Southside Presbyterian Church.
The participants also called on supporters to march on the state Capitol the morning of March 23.
The proposed legislation, said the Rev. Bart Smith, pastor at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, will spread fear and xenophobia.
One proposed bill, SB 1377, which was approved by a House committee Thursday, would impose mandatory sentences on undocumented immigrants who commit a felony. Parole, probation or early release would be prohibited.
To a lot of people that’s just fine. Lock ’em up. Better yet, let’s get tougher with people here without authorization. But one-size-fit-all sentencing is ineffective policy. We’ve done it before. Moreover, it will cost beaucoup bucks.
Further criminalization of people leads to building more prison beds. And in this state, where the private prison industry has been financially kind to Republican lawmakers, the Legislature will be more than happy to authorize money for more prisons.
“It’s an ongoing wave of misguided legislation,” said Matthew Lowen, associate program director for the American Friends Service Committee, which has advocated reforming incarceration polices and has investigated the growing influence of the private prison industry in Arizona.
Another proposed bill is aimed at Middle Eastern refugees fleeing horrific violence and persecution and who are resettled in the state. The Republican Legislature wants to put the financial burden on the charities that sponsor refugees, to make it financially impossible to help traumatized people who have crossed oceans and countries for safety.
Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services reported last week that the House Judiciary Committee voted for SB 1452 and it could be on its way to the governor. It would make resettlement charities financially responsible if refugees they sponsored committed a crime within the first five years they are here. Moreover, the charities would be required to purchase $25 million in liability insurance or face steep civil fines.
A third bill, HB 2451, would mandate that convicted undocumented immigrants complete their full sentences before the state Department of Corrections releases them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. This of course means even more prison beds.
It is waiting for Senate approval and if the chamber votes yes, it will land on Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk.
These bills and two others are feel-good legislation but a dark thread connects the proposed laws.
“It’s the continuing face of anti-human legislation,” said Isabel García, a local attorney representing Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
The Legislature is “obsessed” with finding ways to go after refugees and undocumented immigrants. It is not interested in the well-being of the state’s economy and education “which is real security,” she said.
Arizona led the way in this kind of legislation with SB 1070. Before that, self-proclaimed border watchers descended on the state, bringing their guns and nativist rhetoric.
Now it’s all gone national.
Donald Trump, who held a rally here Saturday and sounds a lot like disgraced Minutemen leader Chris Simcox, is the leading Republican Party presidential contender. And right behind him is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who also was in Southern Arizona Friday, and who has boosted his candidacy by scapegoating foreigners.
But it doesn’t have to be this way, said the Rev. Ailsa Guardiola González, pastor of First Christian Church. The Republican legislators could do better, she added.
“They need to stand up and be courageous,” she said.
