The State of Arizona which already has some of the strictest anti-immigration laws in the nation is poised to pass new laws that will make anyone present in the state with out proper documentation guilty of trespassing. This effectively targets the children of immigrants who were brought into the country by their parents while seeking work. It would also mandate that local law officers enforce the law, removing any discretion on their part.
The law would also make it illegal to pick up a day laborer.
“Catholic Bishops James Wall of Gallup, N.M., Gerald Kicanas of Tucson and Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix wrote a joint letter, saying that they were concerned the measure would make people fearful to report crimes and that children brought into the country by their parents could be criminalized under the bill’s trespassing portion.
[…]The Rev. Sue Youngblood with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Chandler said this state effort will push people out of Arizona.
‘We need the immigrants. We need their labor,’ she said. ‘They are taxpayers, and they are consumers.'”
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Phoenix is already reeling from a massive shortfall in wage and sales tax revenues and has begun to cut numerous social services. The state is reduced to closing rest stops on the highway. Much of the shortfall in tax revenue is attributed to the flight of tax paying immigrants who have left the state for other parts of the country.