States Backing Off From Bills Similar to SB 1070

A District Court judge’s decision to block parts of Arizona’s controversial immigration law from going into effect last week may keep similar laws out of other states. USA Today is reporting that lawmakers from other states are thinking twice before introducing legislation similar to Arizona’s SB 1070. Courtney Combs, a Republican state representative in Ohio, says it "would be wasting taxpayers' money” to file a bill like Arizona’s. "I think we need to make sure that we comply with what the federal courts come up with,” he told the paper. Combs had been planning on filing legislation nearly identical to Arizona’s SB 1070, the paper reports, but the state representative is now planning on removing the parts in his bill that are like the areas blocked last week. Lawmakers from other states are following Combs:

Robert Geddes, the Idaho state Senate's highest-ranking Republican, says his colleagues had planned to file an S.B. 1070 replica but are making changes. "I don't know that we would cut and paste exactly what Arizona has, based on what the judge has already ruled," Geddes says. "That doesn't help us much to engage in the same battle that Arizona has lost." Minnesota state Rep. Steve Drazkowski, a Republican, says any law with the provisions Bolton blocked would have a hard time passing. "The political palatability of such a bill would be greatly diminished," he says.

But another border state, Texas, is going to go ahead with a bill very similar to Arizona’s, according to one legislator. Texas state Rep. Debbie Riddle, a Republican, told the paper that it is too easy for undocumented immigrants to cross the border, exposing the country to gang violence and terrorism. "The first priority of any elected official should be to make sure that the safety and security of the citizens is well-established," Riddle says. Meanwhile, an attorney general with one state that has placed a tough stance on undocumented immigration in the past said his office would not join other states in backing Arizona’s position in the lawsuit. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said his office will not weigh the issue until it is in the appeals courts. The resources going toward the lawsuit would be better suited for educating Congress about immigration, he says. "That's where we should be concentrating our efforts,” Edmondson says. "A lot of it is politics. The people are upset and some politicians want to feed that and profit from it.”

Kristi Eaton is a staff writer for Campus Progress. She graduated from Arizone State University in 2008.