State and Local Governments Rush to Embrace Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

As Congress remains deadlocked on immigration reform, the right-wing Washington Times reports that legislators in various states are pushing “more than 500 bills this year targeting state-mandated services, illegal aliens and the employers who hire them.” The Times cites Georgia, where laws have passed “requiring adults seeking benefits to prove their U.S. citizenship” and making police check immigration status, and Colorado, where “new legislation requires employers to show that new hires are in the country legally,” along with a number of other states that have made health care, scholarships, and other state services contingent on supplying proof of federal immigration status.

And, like Hazleton, Pennsylvania, some municipal governments are taking action. In Asheville, North Carolina, which recently announced that local police would begin working with federal officials in arresting and deporting those in violation of immigration status, one city councilman is looking for other ideas for the city, including shutting down businesses that employ undocumented immigrants.