Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
An anti-illegal immigration group is pushing for Arizona-style legislation in Iowa to drive out undocumented immigrants, The Des Moines Register reported Monday. The Minutemen Patriots have started a petition drive hoping to convince Iowa lawmakers to take up a copycat law — even though Arizona’s effort has been tied up by seven costly lawsuits — and hopes to obtain 200,000 signatures from Iowans stating support for an anti-illegal immigration bill.
The national director of the Minutemen Patriots said a freshman legislator had agreed to sponsor an Arizona-style bill, but did not release the name of the lawmaker. Gov.-elect Terry Branstad supports SB 1070 and has said immigrants should be able to prove they are in the country legally during traffic stops or face deportation. The governor-elect still supports state efforts to curb illegal immigration, his spokesman told the Register (emphasis added):
“Gov. Branstad believes we must strongly enforce our immigration laws, and that state and local officials should work with the federal government to ensure our laws are followed. Gov. Branstad believes that if the federal government will not enforce existing laws, Iowa-specific legislation should be drafted that will enable local law enforcement to detain those individuals who are here illegally. Terry Branstad has made it clear that the costs associated with the enforcement of our immigration laws should and will be borne by the federal government,” Albrecht said.
Federal government officials have said the Department of Homeland Security is already policing immigration at the highest possible level given its funding. It’s possible funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement will increase under the next Congress, when immigration hawk Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) will take control of the House subcommittee on immigration.
In the meantime, though, states that pass anti-immigration laws would likely take on the costs. (For example, if a state detained too many illegal immigrants for ICE to accept into its limited detention centers and deportation proceedings, the state would take on the costs of keeping those individuals in jail until ICE could accept them.)
But there are also other high risks for states that attempt Arizona-style laws. Arizona has spent more than $1 million on legal fees defending the bill, and saw drops in tourism after groups came out against the bill. The Center for American Progress reported last week that boycotts in protest of SB 1070 cost the states’ convention and conference industry more than $250 million. That breaks down to about 2,700 jobs, $86.5 million in wages, $10 million in state tax revenue and $141 million in spending.
Even without legal challenges, bills that drive out illegal immigrants could be expensive. In Prince William County, Va., which implemented a policy similar to SB 1070 in 2006, a recent study found the county had not saved money on social services, but had spent $3 million implementing and maintaining the policy.
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