Suman Raghunathan

A ‘Hi Ho, Silver!!’ in Wyoming on Immigration

As I’ve said before, immigration policy has been treated as a nuclear waste issue recently on both sides of the party aisle - only to triumphantly (and conveniently) re-emerge as a topic worth discussing by the presidential campaigns in time for Super Tuesday and other major primaries in states like California and New Mexico that have large Latino populations. In that revived spirit of love and reconciliation, – I thought I would take this moment to discuss some small yet significant good news. Out of, believe it not, Wyoming.

No, I’m not referring to protecting bears or bison in Yellowstone. (Though these fine furry friends should, of course, be protected: I don’t want to get on your bad side, Sierra Club!)

I’m talking about a recent (sort of, but hey – I’ll take whatever I can these days) victory for immigrant families in the Wyoming State Legislature.

Last week, in a demonstration of brotherly and sisterly love worthy of Valentine’s Day, Wyoming state legislators voted to defeat the state’s own anti-immigrant bill.

A copycat version of the Oklahoma anti-immigrant bill (and we know being a copycat is never a good thing), the Wyoming proposal hoped to make it a state felony to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants. The bill failed 30-30 in the State Legislature. I know, close call, but I’ll take it.

I wrote recently about just how lethal, let alone tragic, these broad anti-immigrant bills are, and how they up in tragedies - not just for undocumented immigrants, but for US citizens and legal immigrants who end up being affected by the climate of fear in immigrant communities caused by broad anti-immigrant legislation. Edgar Contreras, the US citizen infant who recently died in Oklahoma because his undocumented parents were too terrified of the authorities to even take him to the emergency room (after the state enacted one of the nation’s most sweeping anti-immigrant bills) is just the tip of the iceberg. Examples abound of US citizens, legal immigrants, and people who just plain look Latino being swept up in all kinds of dragnets targeting undocumented workers. (And I’m not referring to the feel-good kind starring good ol’ Dan Aykroyd.)

The latest and perhaps most hilarious example can be found in toney Suffolk County on Long Island, where Steve Levy, the county’s anti-immigrant panderer and erstwhile County Executive, signed a sweeping anti-immigrant bill in 2006 requiring a whopping 6,000 building contractors to prove their workers are authorized to work in the US. Large-scale police sweeps of 33 contractors worthy of ‘Cops’ (or maybe Comedy Central’s Reno 911!) last summer and fall produced lots of strum und drang, and certainly lots of fear among the region’s immigrant communities. And now, for the result…. Drumroll please…One unauthorized worker.

Yup, one. A few days ago, County officials sheepishly admitted they found a grand total of one worker without proper work authorization, indicating they were possibly undocumented. Wow. Now that’s what I call some serious bang for Long Island taxpayer’s bucks. I wonder how much police overtime was billed for those shenanigans. (Check out what the locals have to say about the recent spate of raids over at Long Island Wins.)

The news out of Wyoming is worthy of Bonanza! (wow, I’m really a roll with these TV references), especially given a couple of recent federal court decisions that upheld some particularly nasty local laws targeting undocumented immigrants in Arizona and Missouri.

So, in the meantime, I’ll stick with saying ‘Hi ho, Silver!’ to this victory in Wyoming.

Suman Raghunathan: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 12:30 PM, Feb 20, 2008 in Immigration
Permalink | Email to Friend