Our crazy statehouse: Immigration bill

Senate Bill 590, the Arizona-style immigration bill, is currently working its way through the Indiana General Assembly.

SB 590 is one of the more alarming pieces of legislation our state representatives and senators have taken up in recent memory.

According to the Indianapolis Star, the measure “would require police who stop someone for another violation, such as a traffic stop, to ask for proof that they are here legally if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ that they are here illegally.”

It would also prohibit people here illegally from “getting some services, including in-state tuition at colleges.”

The primary problem with bills like this one is they make the states that enact them less attractive to potential immigrants, which hampers a state’s ability to grow and remain vibrant.

With the exception of wanted criminals, all potential immigrants should be welcomed — whether they waded through this country’s unconscionably complex naturalization process or not — because freedom of movement is a fundamental right upon which no government should be allowed to infringe. (See my column from May 9, 2010, for a fuller explanation of this argument.)

An additional problem is the likelihood that this measure will result in the harassment of people who are here legally but happen to look or sound like they are from a country from which illegal immigrants often come.

It is also important to highlight one of Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s objections to the bill, which is that immigration is “a federal policy issue between the U.S. government and other countries — not Indiana and other countries.”

That statement is a part of the Indiana Compact, a set of five principles that Zoeller, along with a group of community, business and education leaders from around the state, put forth “to guide Indiana’s immigration discussion.”

Among the other principles in the Compact are the assertions that Hoosiers should “oppose policies that unnecessarily separate families” and that “Indiana’s immigration policies must reaffirm our global reputation as a welcoming and business-friendly state.”

Supporters of an immigration policy that welcomes people to this state and enhances our economic competitiveness should support the Indiana Compact and oppose Senate Bill 590.

Write your representatives today.


E-mail: jarlower@indiana.edu