Several days have now passed since Alabama's anti-immigration law, the harshest and most abusive in the nation, came into full effect. HB 56, a de facto criminalization of migration, replaces any sensible immigration policy with the favorite solution these days: let's put them behind bars- and we might as well make a profit out of it.
The negative consequences of such shameful legislation have been felt immediately. Within hours, it had claimed its first victims - from the detention of a man who later turned out to be residing legally, to the massive fleeing of migrant workers and school children, to even cutting off water services to families or individuals who can't prove their legal status. It is the most draconian and oppressive set of provisions that this country, which claims to be the bastion of liberties and rights, has seen since the era of segregation.
Because anyone lacking the proper immigration papers is considered to be committing a crime, also entering into a "business transaction" with the individual in question would prompt criminal charges. The pressure to enact and enforce anti-immigration law has left state and local police officers and government agents and officials in a bind. Already struggling to meet demands, with shortened budgets and staff, these agencies must now devise ways to comply with the new set of measures. And at present, these often lead to confusion as to when, how, where and to whom to apply the law.
A consequence of this chaos, though, is that we're seeing absurd and flat out racist applications of the law. A hotline set up by an immigrant protection group has received more than 2,000 phone calls from families in dire need. The pleas range from mothers trying to place their children in safe protection while they look to flee the state, to students being questioned at schools and accounts of abuse and harassment. It is not clear yet how many have been or will be arrested under this provision, but the number will surely make one sector happy: private detention facilities.
Yes, Alabama will have to go that route. In fact, it already has. Not only will this law supply fresh inmates to private detention centers in the state - like the one operated in Decatur by LCS correctional corporation - but it will also feed an already bloated national private prison system controlled by two major corporations, CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) and the GEO group, which have a combined profit of more than $5bn a year. CCA, for example, runs the largest facility in the nation in neighboring Georgia and may potentially take a good portion of the detainees in Alabama. Charging $200 a night, this is an opportunity they'll jump at.
The difference between Alabama and adjoining states is that it is willing to go further down this track. Recently, John McMillan, agriculture commissioner, proposed that the farm work left behind by immigrant workers be supplied with inmate labor. Decatur, a private detention center about 50 miles to the north-west of Alabama, which had been unable to find jobs for inmates, has now witnessed record numbers of requests for labor (for an estimated 150 detainees a day).
So, here is how it goes. First, the state passes a harsh immigration law. Then, it detains large numbers of immigrants. Third, private prisons (LCS, CCA, GEO) receive fresh inmates. And finally, the artificially created labor shortage is supplied by the new inmates. Does this sound like modern-day slavery to anyone?
The rest of the country can only look in shock and dismay, as once again, Alabama, a state renowned for its historical role in racism, segregation and slavery, leads the nation into another round of shame.
Follow Axel W. Caballero on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mycuentame
The sooner we can get control of this mess, the sooner we can put the illegal alien apologists and lobbyists and enablers out of work.
Axel is trying to use a red herring again. Axel, Alabama's law stops the exploitation of foreign nationals that are NOT authorized to be in the USA, that is a good thing, and it helps Americans as well because it prevents both foreign nationals and USA born from a race to the bottom based on a competition of poor treatment.
Nice try Axel, but you are completely 180 degrees turned around, and as usual, not correct
The people of Mexico and Central and South America are a different situation. They came here of their own volition without permission to enter the country. They voluntarily and intentionally work for wages less than the citizens and take advantage of services that are intended only for the legitimate people of the US. That does not constitute "slavery". If they leave, nobody is going to try to bring them back and force them to work. In fact, various states made laws to encourage them to go back to the nations they came from.
Unlike the slaves, their governments, with consulates and embassies all over the US, actively support them and work for their rights even though they are here illegally. They are supported as well by a network of organizations and activists that include their own media arms. They are completely different from the black slaves and their descendants who had none of this.
Sensationalism does not serve their cause very well.
They already have citizenship and civil rights in their own nations. We have no need to give them ours as a reward for ignoring our laws.
That said, they are not going to imprison people for being in the nation illegally; they are going to deport them.
Making a contract with a foreign national is not a jail-able offence but the contract is worthless. That is a case of "buyer beware" for both sides.
The part of the law that makes proof of citizenship necessary for obtaining services, identification or registrations is not that different from the laws of other countries. People who are here legally, foreigners or citizens, can easily access services. Those who violated the law in entering the country cannot.
This article contains many of the scare tactics that activists have propagated in an effort to shout down laws that attempt to control immigration The idea behind the laws is not to imprison illegal migrants but to encourage them to leave the states on their own. They have citizenship and rights in their own nations and they are being strongly encouraged to take advantage of them.
As for what Calderon does about his repatriated citizens, that is his problem. Mexico's economy is improving, so they can work out something.