Of all the laws and ideas that Tennessee should co-opt from other states, Arizona’s controversial immigration law is not one of them. It should probably be avoided like the plague. Tennessee Sen. Bill Ketron appears to be under the impression that illegal immigration is such an imminent threat that it’s necessary to force people with brown skin to carry documentation at all times proving that they’re not illegal. The immigration bill is not a solution to the problem of illegal immigration as much as it is a catapult for Ketron to bolster his political status.
According to The Tennessean, the template for this immigration bill was supplied by the Washington think tank, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). They claim to be a nonpartisan group devoted to limited government and free market ideas. The group is nonpartisan in the way that Jack Daniels is nonalcoholic. Over the years, ALEC has been supported and funded by companies such as Exxon Mobil, Visa, RJ Reynolds, Phillip Morris, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHRMA), and the Nashville-based company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). In turn the council supports politicians who support their initiatives. The CCA stands to make millions from the proposed bill because they would be one of the lucky companies charged with detaining illegal immigrants.
The Arizona bill was drafted in the same manner. Sen. Russell Pearce, who was instrumental in drawing up the Arizona bill, also sits on the American Legislative Exchange Council. NPR reported back in October that the bill was drafted in a room with about 50 people that included other legislators, officials from Corrections Corporation of America and several other lobbyists. The officials and lobbyists in this meeting voted on the bill’s specifics, and the final result was the version that was signed into law. This is corporatism at its worst. With all the recent irrational fear regarding socialism, the very real problem of corporatism flourishes in backroom deals with our supposed representatives in Washington.
The goal of the American corporations like CCA is to maximize profit, and this is not always in conjunction with what’s best for local communities.
Ketron can claim that illegal immigration is stealing jobs away from Tennesseans, but if this is truly about Tennesseans’ jobs, then why doesn’t this bill specifically target businesses that hire illegal workers? It’s an instant solution. Illegal immigrants aren’t here for the seasonal weather and country music. If you punish the businesses, then you take away the incentive to hire illegal immigrants. Or you could, as the bill instructs, keep racially profiling and asking people one at a time if they are legal. It’s counterproductive and a little stupid, but at least it makes somebody a dollar and allows Ketron to climb a rung higher on the conservative totem pole. It’s a stark indication that this has more to do with arresting and detaining people for profit rather than solving any real problems.
And if you think that illegal immigration hurts the Tennessee economy, just imagine what this bill will do for tourism and other industries. If this comes to pass, we might actually be lucky to be the home of Corrections Corporation of America because other companies will think twice before moving to a state that legalizes racial profiling.
Then again, maybe Tennessee’s future lies in the corporate prison. Maybe CCA can establish corporate prisons everywhere, and all the hypothetical Tennesseans who once couldn’t find work will be gainfully employed to watch over the same immigrants who stole their jobs. It’s like a great big Republican fantasy.
