Businesses fret over AZ immigration bill
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Bill Radke: Arizona’s Governor needs to decide by tomorrow whether to veto the toughest immigration bill in the country or let it become law. Some business leaders there worry
this anti-immigrant bill will make Arizona’s economy worse than it is, as Jill Barshay reports.
Jill Barshay: This Arizona bill would require the police to check the status of people they suspect to be illegals. About 2 million, or 30 percent, of Arizona’s residents are Hispanic. Most of them — more than 1.5 million — are here legally.
John Boyd runs The Boyd Company. He advises big corporations on where to locate their facilities. He says the timing could not be worse.
John Boyd: We’re in a recession. Arizona businesses have enough problems right now.
Boyd worries that businesses like food processors will stop coming to Arizona.
Boyd: It was certainly advantage to have access to cheap workers to do jobs that no one else wants to do. This bill may interfere with that in-migration and hurt the diverse rich labor market and increase operating costs.
Boyd says business leaders are bracing for a drop in tourism and for national Hispanic groups to organize boycotts. Republican Governor Jan Brewer has a pro-business reputation. But she’s also up for re-election this November.
I’m Jill Barshay for Markeplace.
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