Arizona Law on Immigration Spooks Business Leaders-FPI in Huffington Post

April 16, 2014. FPI’s David Dyssegaard Kallick wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post, reporting on how Arizona business leaders see the economic impacts of the state’s “Show Me Your Papers” law. It may be hard to statistically measure the economic impact of the bill, widely perceived as anti-immigrant, argues Kallick. But a good gauge of the damage done is how serious the state’s business leaders have been about efforts to turn the anti-immigrant perception around. And, Kallick says, falling behind the curve on the immigration legislation is part of what motivated business leaders to act quickly in opposition to the recent Arizona proposal to allow businesses to deny service to gay and lesbian customers.

One of the most striking stories I heard was about a delegation of Arizona legislators that went to Mexico City to talk about trade relations recently. Mexico is Arizona’s biggest foreign trading partner, and state officials wanted to discuss ways to reduce friction between the two economies — reducing wait time for trucks carrying goods across the border, road upgrades and the like.

What Arizona legislators got was instead an earful about SB1070. “You hate us. Why are you here?” was the first reaction of the Mexican officials, according Catherine Miranda, an Arizona legislator.

 

Published On: April 16th, 2014|Categories: Letters, Migration|

Share on Social Media!

April 16, 2014. FPI’s David Dyssegaard Kallick wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post, reporting on how Arizona business leaders see the economic impacts of the state’s “Show Me Your Papers” law. It may be hard to statistically measure the economic impact of the bill, widely perceived as anti-immigrant, argues Kallick. But a good gauge of the damage done is how serious the state’s business leaders have been about efforts to turn the anti-immigrant perception around. And, Kallick says, falling behind the curve on the immigration legislation is part of what motivated business leaders to act quickly in opposition to the recent Arizona proposal to allow businesses to deny service to gay and lesbian customers.

One of the most striking stories I heard was about a delegation of Arizona legislators that went to Mexico City to talk about trade relations recently. Mexico is Arizona’s biggest foreign trading partner, and state officials wanted to discuss ways to reduce friction between the two economies — reducing wait time for trucks carrying goods across the border, road upgrades and the like.

What Arizona legislators got was instead an earful about SB1070. “You hate us. Why are you here?” was the first reaction of the Mexican officials, according Catherine Miranda, an Arizona legislator.

 

Published On: April 16th, 2014|Categories: Letters, Migration|

Share on Social Media!