The Arizona immigration law hurts their tourist industry AND high-tech industry

[zulchzulu]

Not that Republicans appear to give a crap about science, education or universities, but there's a great article that also shows just how this unconstitutional law would actually hurt their hi-tech industry, their universities and send a signal to those who want to study in Arizona should go somewhere else.

Arizona's new 'papers, please' law may hurt H-1B workers
Immigration law could hurt Arizona's tech industry, keep top foreign students from schools there

Legal experts said that an H-1B worker questioned by a police officer that has "reasonable suspicion" about his or her immigration status could be arrested while doing nothing more than going to a restaurant, grocery shopping or even taking a walk around the block if they don't have their H-1B papers at the ready.

Federal immigration law requires that all non-U.S. citizens, including H-1B workers, have documentation showing that they are in this country legally, but visa workers are rarely asked to produce their papers at any time or place, said legal experts.

(snip)

Immigration experts noted that there are a number of ways that an H-1B worker can be in this country legally, but not have the paperwork to prove it.

For example, a worker could be carrying an expired I-94 card while waiting for new paperwork from U.S. immigration authorities, a process that could take months. Under current laws that worker could be in the U.S. legally even though the paperwork doesn't reflect it, said Gregory A. Wald, an attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. "Is a police officer in Arizona going to understand that?"

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176019/Arizona_s_new_papers_please_law_may_hurt_H_1B_workers

With this hare-brained law, Arizona can expect boycotts in tourism, business, education and all the repercussions of losing those vital jobs. It's not only racist, it's a business killer.

Then again, all the people backing this bill are anti-education, anti-science and probably are just waiting for Sarah Palin to arrive to begin the End Times.

:crazy: