Much To Lose

Arizona’s new anti-immigrant legislation "was never considered a tourism issue,"according to Kristen Jarnagin, VP of Communications for the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association. "It wasn't even on our radar screen."

Still, as a result of the controversial immigration legislation, tourism in Arizona has already lost between $6 million and $10 million in projected business revenue and if boycotts against the legislation continue, the state may lose $80 million more in the next five years.

A scary fact, especially as State Representative Manny Steele of Sioux Falls intends to introduce a bill for South Dakota mirroring parts of Arizona's “show me your papers” statute.

Arizona’s new immigration statute, introduced back in April and codified in July triggered a number of statewide boycotts from countless organizations and city governments including St. Paul, Minnesota.

If Steele succeeds in passing his own anti immigration legalization, the State of Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, and the Corn Palace will surely face a similar fate as the Grand Canyon State.

For example, California Endowment, with over $5.2 million invested in five Arizona companies has sent a letter to the companies saying it is reconsidering its investments because of Arizona's new immigration law.

Groups like the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church have decided to "refrain from holding national meetings in states where travel by immigrant Presbyterians or Presbyterians of color might subject them to harassment due to legislation."

According to the Tucson Weekly, the Arizona tourism industry lost more than $6 million in the first few weeks of Arizona’s immigration debate.

Can South Dakota risk taking this kind of finical hit? I don’t think so.

While press surrounding the Arizona law put local legislators in the national spotlight, the negative attention proved disastrous for those whose livelihood depended on a positive state-image.

The local CBS affiliate in Phoenix reported that between the economy and boycotts related to Arizona’s tough new immigration law, tourism in the state was down 10 percent.

Governor Jan Brewer, an unelected governor facing a tough primary, stood the most to gain from the legislation. Shortly after signing the bill into law her popularity soared in the polls and as a result forced her primary challenger to drop out of the election.

Yet before the bill was even passed Brewer requested $250,000 dollars of taxpayer money to rebrand the states broken image.

In this economy, South Dakota needs Manny Steele and other State Representatives to understand that Arizona misjudged public opinion by mistaking frustration towards Washington’s inaction on immigration reform as public calls for mass deportation—a mistake that could cost the state of Arizona more than $80 million.

According to Fox news the country is largely not dived on immigration issues as often portrayed in the media and a majority of Americans agree on comprehensive immigration solutions.

The latest Fox News poll showed that over two-thirds of American’s (68%) favor allowing illegal immigrants who pay taxes and obey the law to stay in the United States.

And while it is true that more voters think the government should secure the border first than pass new immigration laws, the vast majority (68%) says both should be done at the same time.

I hope that as South Dakota lawmakers consider Steele’s Arizona-like legislation, they understand solutions to our broken immigration system don’t have to be controversial—they don’t have to cost the state millions of dollars in boycotts and bad press.

Our immigration laws simply need to give the public what they want—comprehensive solutions that secure our borders and allow immigrants already here to obtain documents and pay taxes.