On the Arizona Immigration Law

While I certainly understand the frustration of the people of Arizona and the reasons for passing a law that make illegal immigration a crime, their new law is not the solution to the problem.

There were more illegal immigrants in Arizona three years ago than there are today, this decline  is due to the fact that the US economy has slowed down. While there were more illegals back then, unemployment in Arizona (and everywhere else) was lower than it is today. The higher unemployment is due, again, to the slow down in the US economy, it has little to do with illegals taking jobs from US citizens.

Crime in Arizona is down as well. Violent crime is down 23 percent and overall crime is the lowest it has been in 40 years. Are there illegals who commit crimes? Yes, but studies show it is at a lower rate than for natural citizens. This is one of the reasons why several local law enforcement agencies in Arizona are against this law. It will take resources away from fighting real crime.

Part of the problem in Arizona also has to do with the fact that much of the state revenue comes from an income tax. Illegals, therefore do not participate in the tax system, yet benefit in some ways from the services provided. Here in Texas, we have a sales tax as one of the primary vehicles for state revenue. Guess what? Illegals buy stuff, too and therefore participate in the system.

As your representative in Austin, I would not sponsor or vote for any kind of “copy cat” law for Texas. I would instead bring pressure to bear on the federal government to provide us with a  better and expanded guest worker program. We need to give these hardworking people a way to get into this country legally. Doing so would then allow us to spend more resources on protecting us from real criminals and possible terrorists.