Illegal Immigration Pros and Cons | Arizona | Alabama, Who Is Next?

What is illegal immigration? It is essentially the migration of foreign residents to a country under conditions where these foreign citizens or residents do no meet certain legal requirements to immigrate to that country. Which in turn means they enter the country illegally and are violating immigration laws of that particular country or jurisdiction.

There are various and sometimes complicated reasons that people choose to immigrate illegally but it usually consists of people from poor countries who are in search of more opportunities and a better life for their families. So they generally migrate to more advanced or developed countries searching for the "so-called" promised land.

Illegal immigration impacts many different aspects of a country including but not limited to the political world, the economy as well as social, cultural and ethical mores.

This brings about numerous heated debates about how to deal with it when it appears to be out of control. There are also just as many opinions of when that loss of control has happened.

Arizona took an unprecedented step starting in 2009 to make some very controversial moves on a new Arizona state immigration law. Now almost 2 years later Alabama has joined their ranks with some of the toughest yet still controversial laws to date. So what are some of the illegal immigration pros and cons in Arizona and Alabama? Who is next on the list to adopt or pass similar laws?

The recently passed Alabama immigration law (as the Birmingham news called it "Beason Brown People Ban") has been cited by its creators and the media alike as the toughest in the nation. Most of its provisions were modeled after the controversial Arizona Immigration law, while some of the provisions were specifically intended to surpass its strictness.

State Senator Scott Beason (the main sponsor of the bill) has repeatedly called the new law “a jobs bill for Alabama”, yet it doesn’t seem to contain any provisions that directly impact the legal Alabama worker in a positive way. And it only marginally targets employers of illegal immigrants, not nearly enough to encourage them to start employing Alabama citizens of their own volition.

Rather than go after some of the biggest offenders such as the food processing, apparel & textile, and paper mill industries the state legislature decided to target individuals. The logic behind this according to them was to create an environment that was to create an environment in the state so hostile that illegal immigrants would no longer find it beneficial to come to Alabama.

This is their solution instead of eliminating the tax abatements and subsidies that the major industries in the state that employ illegal immigrants get at quite a generous rate. Why is it the legislature cannot see that it is these companies bringing in illegal immigrants in droves, not individuals huddling together in vans from the border?

One of the more incendiary sections of the law is a provision that makes it illegal, and punishable by up to a year of jail time, to knowingly conceal, harbor, shield, or transport an illegal alien. The language establishing this provision is so poorly worded and short sighted.

Naturally the legislators who drafted it say it is to target criminal organizations and human traffickers, but what it does is open the door to the persecution of church groups, community activist organizations and other civil rights groups-all of which are the political adversaries of those behind the drafting of the new law.

With all the controversy surrounding this new Alabama Immigration Law, there are surely going to be lawsuits challenging many of its provisions.

There are several other states that have attempted to pass various types of bills dealing with illegal immigration in their states but none so far have really succeeded to the extremes that both Arizona and Alabama have.

So tell us what you think, share your opinions pro or con on the Illegal Immigration laws currently in place in Alabama and Arizona.

Who do you think will be next to pass a bill equally as strict and controversial?