U.S. states plan crackdown on illegal immigration

PHOENIX, (Reuters) – Republican state legislatures  are ramping up a crackdown on illegal immigrants this year, in  a concerted drive that risks alienating potential business  allies and Latino voters.

At least seven states are expected to follow Arizona’s  controversial push last year to curb illegal immigration. And  more than a dozen are harmonizing efforts to cancel birthright  citizenship for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

Lawmakers say the cooperation is unprecedented and responds  to a failure by Washington to secure the Mexico border and  address the status of nearly 11 million illegal immigrants  living in the shadows.

“The federal government has absolutely, totally and  completely fallen down on its responsibility of protecting our  nation’s borders,” said Randy Terrill, an Oklahoma Republican  who is pushing immigration-related laws in the coming year.

The state push follows sweeping gains for Republicans in  the November elections which gave them control of the U.S.  House of Representatives and a stronger hand in the Senate, as  well as their broadest showing at the state level in decades.

Seven states, including Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska,  Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee, say they  will push measures similar to Arizona’s immigration law.

Arizona would have required state and local police to  investigate the immigration status of anyone they suspected was  in the country illegally, but a federal judge voided parts of  the law before it took effect in July.

In a sign of growing cooperation on immigration issues, at  least 14 states are working together on a shared legislative  framework to challenge automatic U.S. citizenship for children  born to illegal immigrant parents, which is grounded in the  14th amendment to the Constitution.

“What we’re doing together on the illegal alien issue is  unprecedented and is historic,” said Daryl Metcalfe, a  Republican state lawmaker from Pennsylvania.

President Barack Obama promised to push for an immigration  overhaul, boosting border security and offering steps to legal  status for millions of illegal immigrants, but Democrats failed  to gain traction in the last Congress.

Republicans taking majority control of the House of  Representatives on Wednesday are likely to focus on tightening  enforcement and limiting immigration, analysts said.

The concerted crackdown on illegal immigrants will likely  win support from conservative Republicans, some independents  and even Democrats, analysts say, but could risk alienating  Latino voters and some in the business community.

“If this is the only means through which the Republican  Party addresses the broader issue of immigration, it may have  some short-term benefits but create serious long-term  difficulties,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh  Politics Institute at the University of Southern California.

Groups opposed to piecemeal legislation cracking down on  illegal immigrants include some chambers of commerce, who favor  standardized rules for business, and agricultural employers,  who rely on immigrant labour.

“We would have a heck of a time if anybody at the federal  or state level were to approach immigration as an  enforcement-only approach,” said Ray Prewett of the Texas  Vegetable Association, which represents citrus and vegetable  farmers across Texas.

States may also face costly legal challenges if they pass  legislation. Arizona faced seven lawsuits and has appealed the  federal judge’s decision to block parts of its law.

The push is also deepening mistrust of Republicans among  Latinos, the country’s fastest growing minority, who turned out  by a 2-to-1 margin for Obama in 2008 and helped Democrats hold  onto key Senate seats in the West in November.

“You are looking at alienating the largest growing segment  of the electorate in the country,” said Jerry Gonzalez of the  Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “(This) is  really shooting yourself in the foot.”

The Hispanic population is projected to nearly triple, to  132.8 million by 2050, when nearly 1 in 3 U.S. residents will  be Latino, according to a 2008 U.S. Census Bureau study.