CONFERENCE SUMMARY

This three-day conference on “Immigration and the Public Sector” was held September 26-28 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, I-17 and Peoria Avenue in Phoenix.  Public officials, administrators, immigration experts, and academic leaders from a seven state region gathered in Phoenix, to address the questions and implications brought about by immigration in the Southwest.

(Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah)

The conference was presented by the Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.  It included general sessions with nationally known experts and mini-plenaries on specific topics of interest,

One of the goals of the conference was to bridge immigration policy and practice.  Plenary sessions led by nationally recognized immigration experts painted a broad picture of current policy initiatives.  The break-out sessions provided venues for engaging conversations about the challenges of how these issues play out in communities in the fields of public health and safety, social welfare, workforce

National and Regional Speakers

·        Arizona’s Attorney General Terry Goddard

·        Harold “Bud” Hodgkinson, Director, Center for Demographic Policy

·        Jose Rivera, Former U.S. Attorney

·        Dr, Cecilia Rosales, Commissioner, U.S. Border Health Commission

·        Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow, the Manhattan Institute

·        Linda Chavez, Author & Commentator

·        Eliseo Medina, Executive VP, Service Employees International Union; Law Foundation

·        Alfredo Gutierrez, Principal, Tequida & Gutierrez

·        Richard De Uriarte, Columnist, Arizona Republic

·        Susan Collins, Legislative Director, Office of Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)

·        Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director, American Immigration Law Foundation

·        Sean Noble, Chief of Staff to John Shadegg (R-AZ), Representative of Rep.

Harold Hodgkinson: (Day 1 Night Session)

Director of the Center for Demographic Policy at the Institute for Educational Leadership

·        Forty million Americans move every year from one place to another

·        Ten million move from one state to another and 30 million move within the state

·        Race and ethnicity are changing rapidly

·        Sixty out of 1,000 white women of childbearing age will have a child in any given year; 63 black women out of 1,000 will have a child; and 84 out of 1,000 Hispanic women will give birth.

·        In the future, Hispanics and Asians will account for 61 percent of population growth in the U.S.

·        California will add 12 million Hispanics and six million Asians by 2025

·        Texas and Florida will add 8 million more Hispanics.

·        The U.S. is heading toward a population that is "increasingly Hispanic and increasingly poor.

·        Due to immigration and high fertility, half of all school children will be non-Anglo American by 2025. 

Racial lines are becoming blurred. At least 40% of all Americans have had some racial mixing in the last three generations. Children of Hispanic immigrants, for instance, are marrying non-Hispanics 35% of the time.  Nothing is distributed evenly across the United States, not race, not religion, not age, not fertility, not wealth.  Racial distribution will also differ greatly from state to state. Race and ethnicity statistics will be increasingly hard to interpret.

Overview of Federal Legislation (Day 2 Morning Session)

Moderator: Rep. Phil Lopes, Arizona House Minority Leader

·        Susan Collins, Legislative Director, Office of Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)

·        Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director, American Immigration Law Foundation

·        Sean Noble, Chief of Staff to John Shadegg (R-AZ), Representative of Rep.

This group discussed the defeat of the Immigration Reform Bill in the Senate, and from their perspective, what they see for future options as the presidential campaign continues, and their sense of what parts of immigration reform are more likely to be addressed than others.

·        Susan Collins discussed the debates between the senate and Congress leading to the rejection of the Immigration bill.  She indicated the disappointment in Congress that they were unable to reach agreement and pass Immigration Reform Bill.  A large audience felt the bill had a good chance to pass.  It doesn’t seem that the Democrats and Republicans are willing to compromise.  States are passing their own ordinances in an effort to deal with impact on local government and communities. 

·        Ben Johnson offered his perspective on Immigration Reform.  Current laws and system don’t make sense in a setting where there is no resolution on the issues related to labor and human resources.  If immigration policies are to succeed we need to have serious dialogues that address the benefits to the United States labor force.  In the sixties half of the US work force did not have a high level of education.  Today that number is much lower, yet the economy continues to create jobs that require very little education.  This results in employers turning to immigrant worker to fill the gap in the labor market.  Immigration is a resource that has served our nation well but has been mismanaged over the past ten years. 

·        Sean Noble made the analogy of a worker in the sixties with a high school education accepting work for the low skilled worker.  Today a young person would continue with their education and create the opportunity to build their own company.  As a nation we have changed and grown, but there is still the need for a lower skilled work force.  Sean spoke of his experiences as he spent time with Border Patrol Agents to better understand the issues that are such a strong part of Immigration reform in Arizona.  House passed enforcement with no knowledge of how to deal with the people who come to our country to work.  Sealing the borders will not solve the problem. Piece meal approach taken will only prolong and complicate the issues further. 

Policy Overview (Day 2 Mid Morning)

Moderator: Danny Valenzuela, CEO, Transition Execs, LLC.

·        Sheri Steisel, Federal Affairs Counsel, Senior Director Human Services Policy

·        Dr. Jill Esbenshade, Associate Professor, San Diego State University

·        Barbara Obrzut, Graduate Student, San Diego State University.

NCSL tracks immigration-related state legislation, ballot issues and initiatives around the country through their Immigrant Policy Project. The themes and trends based on that body of work, and how these state actions align or conflict with federal policy were discussed by Sheri Steisel.  Dr. Esbenshade and Ms. Obrzut presented the results of their research on how immigration is regulated through local housing ordinances, and the impacts and consequences of those actions.  Federal government’s authority in immigration, local concerns and laws enforced are studying how to keep illegals out of public institution, even though Supreme Court said undocumented’s children have a right to education.  No Child Left Behind has added to the pressure on proficiency issues, with lack of federal money to deal with immigrant needs.

Luncheon Plenary: Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General (Day 2 Lunch)

Moderator: Senator Meg Burton Cahill (District 17, AZ).

·        Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General.

Terry spoke about a tale of two borders dealing with the Polygamy community and the Warren Seth’s case.  There are different set of standards that are used to deal with the laws of the community. 

Child Protective Services: Many of these children have parents who are here illegally.  Many families came here with a work Visa and have not returned to their country.  Terry indicated that turning Phoenix PD into immigration officials will result in less trust for Police Force. The Constitution defines the laws.  Make that clear.  PHPD should be about public safety. 

Dinner and Evening Program (Day 2:  Panel)

Richard De Uriarte, Columnist, Arizona Republic.

Panelists include:

·        Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President, SEIU

·        Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute

·        Alfredo Gutierrez, Principal, Tequida & Gutierrez.

·        Ira Mehlman, Media Director, Federation for American Immigration Reform

·        Linda Chavez, Author and Commentator

A spectrum of viewpoints around immigration dominated the Thursday evening program.  There was a lively and engaging discussion by public decision-makers who face daily challenges involving immigration.  They shared research findings, experiences and a diverse perspective on the impact of immigration on the public sector.

Friday Morning Plenary

Moderator: Panfilo Contreras, Executive Director Arizona School Boards Association

Discussions featuring case studies of how local communities and states have responded to immigration issues.  Working in small groups at their tables, participants would review and discuss sample case studies in conversations facilitated by moderators at each table. Small groups and individuals would then interact with a panel of experts who would respond to questions and comments.

Panelists include:

·        Rep. Ben Miranda (District 16, AZ)

·        Evelyn Cruz, Director, ASU Immigration Law Clinic

·        Alfredo Gutierrez, Principal, Tequida & Gutierrez

Evelyn – case law back to 1800s. Person has some due process rights regardless of status if in US. When ICE arrests, individuals are asked to sign a paper for immediate “voluntary departure,” only solution offered, used scare tactics. Consequences may include inability to return. Need advice but can’t get help to see if they have a case to fight.

ICE would alert local authorities before a raid so city would know that children had no one at home to care for the children. No duty to minors. Care of minors is state duty. State has legal obligation to children. Texas case “Byers” cites right to protection of children. About 20% of children in US have foreign born parent, many of which are US citizens. State protection of children rules would apply to the abandoned children.

Alfredo: ICE picks up people they want and children become wards of school district. Alternative is to call state and Dept of Econ Security take responsibility. If child is born in Mexico they have a secret children’s facility for undocumented children. Proceedings against the children take place in secret. If child is citizen, the child is left where it is. Swift raid resulted in mothers being deported and their infants were left at the church nursery. State certified church as guardian and they kept for weeks.

Miranda: question is whether the 14^th amendment applied to immigration. It does not matter what protections we have if people have no legal means to protect themselves. Constitution does not apply to the immigrant populations: substandard housing, education and other services are denied based on racial profiling. Only way you get change is for system to break down completely. Capacity issue with ICE cannot keep all they arrest if they refuse to “sign a departure.” If they won’t sign they go to jail, and are held until proceedings are completed.

Act of extortion with county attorney’s office. Person held for fraudulent use of ID, class 4 felony, or class 6 open. For $2700 can reduce to misdemeanor and get supervised probation and be able to stay.

Mike Murphy – NY Times, Sept 26 – economics reality in Riverside, NJ – rescinded ordinance against immigrants. Ramification is economic devastation to small communities. Shows need for better balance of situation.

Mayor of Paso Robles –

Legality and resource issues. If going enact an ordinance better be able to enforce. If stuck with ordinance would have to say stop and review purpose and why and where going. Council would have to decide they made a mistake, look at fiscal impact.

Alfredo – role of sheriff is maintaining the jails for the county, and also policing. Maricopa County decision to arrest illegals rather than criminals. Clearance rates show how crimes are resolved. The Sheriff has low clearance rate for crime because they made a priority to focus on illegals. “G Agreement” – using local officers to focus on federal enforcement.  Is this a reasonable use of money?

Miranda – anti-immigrant bias could be resolved through education and economic consequences of legislation. Business community fell asleep on AZ 2779 but they did not take action.

Mayor of Moreno Valley, CA – excessive use of force in scenario. Drawn guns in non-lethal situation. Also, local government was not advised of raid, and ICE can go unannounced but should tell locals. Mayor sworn to uphold the law as it is, cannot apply individual standards to laws like and don’t like.

Alfredo – examples of ICE raids against women using long arms (guns) causing panic. Defense has that they have a detention order and no idea if person is armed. Excessive use of force. Have obligation to follow the law, but not required to be unreasonable. Behavior should not panic the entire community, but panic is a tactic used by new ICE approach, intimidate entire communities. Goal is get people to leave.

Moderator:

Issue of whether crime is continuous, and what level of crime. What is media coverage?

Mike Murphy – media looks for most interesting story. Watch raid, demonize immigrants, more appealing to elected sheriff to use high profile way to round up immigrants than trying to serve warrants. Cape Creek was driven by the Sonora News in Cape Creek that has an editorial policy of agitating the community against immigrants.

Miranda – allocation of resources. Want to focus on crime or immigration? Uphold the law but could change the law, such as Rosa Parks. Have to recognize the errors of the past, and move to change.

Question 2: ICE Raid rips community apart

Group 1- Police Chief reporter

Police chief uses statistics to allocate resources. 1% of arrests are illegal aliens so focuses on gangs, drugs. But cannot completely ignore federal laws. Don’t do round-ups or raids, but call Border Patrol if someone is arrested for something and found to be illegal. ICE usually calls first, brief city manager, work with ICE about level of activity, and ask about family members. Good relationship with Hispanic community, so would contact community about why ICE came. Bigger businesses knowingly bringing in illegals to cut labor costs, use coyotes to bring in cheap illegal labor. Be careful of words used to describe actions. “Extortion” or plea agreement? Common to offer choice of going to trial or plead to lesser charge, so that really “extortion” for $2700 to let it go away?

Miranda – need to do a better job of educating everyone that 1% gets arrested. Spreads intimidation in community that results from raids. Long term implications. Kids between 5-10 years old told every day to come home early because afraid of police. What are the consequences? Bad future relationships with law enforcement. People report crime less. Kidnappings going unreported - $25-$50k ransoms – people afraid to report crime and that will develop a well organized criminal element.

Chief – people could decide some limit for guest worker permits, avenues for citizenship, but still have to have immigration enforcement because there would be some law to enforce. What do you do with illegals then? Where do we draw the line?

Alfredo – city resolutions condemning ICE because of changed behavior in ICE. Santa Fe, San Francisco. Chertoff discusses the new ICE rules and regulations. Swift raids drag people away. Detained 12,000 people in six days. Ultimately deported 65 people – tactics changing. Purpose to terrify communities of workers. Want reasonable law. Increasing criminality that current law inviting into neighborhoods. Have turned human cargo into monetary value, payment enforcement. Need thugs to run the process. Need reasonable set of laws to end thuggery.

Miranda – compliment Chief of Police of Phoenix for reaction to recent event about immigration. Alonso Pena told to distance self from Sheriff Arpaio, need to protect ICE from that.

Murphy – dialogue driven by newspapers and talk radio. Now discussions are driven by blogs, talk radio, underground media. 

Evelyn – why do people follow the law? Rousseau – social contract, obey law because we get something out of it. Problem is we have created law impossible for person to follow. E.g., can’t get driver’s license if illegal. 1986 laws were a disaster. Did not create a set of laws of adding people by normal means. Can’t come legally so only option is to come illegally.

Alfredo – don’t expect immigration reform for some time, so how apply the law as it exists today in a humane fashion? Law allows little option for humane action. Question of ethics, using standard of reasonability, people ideologically on either side, can’t decide not to follow federal law or state law. Don’t have to use law as a weapon or hammer to humiliate other people. Challenge is to use reason and ethics, and advocate a change in the law.

 Public Safety: Policing Immigration

Moderator: Cathy Connolly, Retired Director, League of Arizona Cities and Towns

·        Paul Lewis, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

·        Richard Miranda, Police Chief, Tucson Police Department

·        Jose Rivera, Former U.S. Attorney

No Notes were available for this session

Workforce Development:

Moderator: Nancy Welch, Associate Director, Morrison Institute

·        Susan Gehring, Manager, Community Based Resources, City of Austin, TX

·        Laureen Laglagaron, Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute

·        John Morales, Administrative Director, Yuma Private Industry Council

The government has specified a process all employers must go through in order to verify both the identity and the work status of prospective employees. The law requires that both the employer and the employee complete an I-9 form, or the Employment Eligibility Verification Form. Once this form has been completed and the employer has maintained that the I-9 has been properly filled out, the employer’s responsibility to verify the employee’s authorized work status is complete. 

The group discussed the process of obtaining work authorization in terms of time, complexity, and the qualification that the immigration applicant is qualified to do.  The concerns about national origin and discrimination in the workplace were discussed.  Foreign credentialing process for professional.  Canada and Australia have national effort, US does not.  English proficiency needed for sustainable work force.  65% of the population makes less that 25k/yr. better English increases status.  75% of US children are children of Immigrants.  Systems need  to work together to push “STEM” education, science, technology and Math.  Farm Bureau can’t recruit agricultural workers. They need 15,ooo workers to pick lettuce.  Employees becoming police, turning in fellow workers. 

Economic Development

Moderator: Ina Wintrich, Assistant Director, Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program

·        Glenn Hamer, President, Arizona Chamber of Commerce

·        Julie Pace, Attorney, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP

Ballot initiative to combat illegal aliens, harvest law in the US, mandatory investigation of complaints.  Companies have to use E-Verify and Social Security to check employees.  Problem is that the system is slow.  Difficult to use to hire people.  E-Verify will increase incidents of identity of theft because of the need to steal Social Security numbers to clear the hire hurdle.  wehrealiens.com website designed to scare Hispanics to leave.  “A day without a Mexican” Movie

“400 Years of Immigration”

Introduced by: Joanna Duke, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

·        Brian Gratton, Professor, Arizona State University

No Notes were available for this session

 Healthcare

Moderator: Suzanne Pfister, Vice-President of External Affairs, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center

·        Rose Conner, Health Policy Consultant

·        Kathryn DeRose, Health Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation

·        Dr. Cecilia Rosales, Commissioner, U.S.- Mexico Border Health Commission

No Notes were available for this session

The Intersection between Nonprofits and the Public Sector

Moderator: Ed Portnoy, Director of Grants Programs,

·        Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

·        Edmundo Hidalgo, President, Chicanos Por La Causa

·        Bob King, President, Arizona Community Foundation

·        Dana Wolfe Naimark, CEO, Children’s Action Alliance

·        Tim Schmaltz, CEO, Protecting Arizona’s Families Coalition (PAFCO)

No Notes were available for this session

Thank you very much to our student volunteers and members of the audience for supplying their notes on various conference sessions.