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PA House Bill 2479 is unethical, unconstitutional, and un-American.
In April, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a sweeping piece of legislation that injected her state into the enforcement of federal immigration law and all but codified racial profiling.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe wants our commonwealth to follow Arizona's lead and has introduced House Bill 2479 to do just that.
HB 2479 will inevitably lead to racial profiling. The legislation states that law enforcement shall verify the immigration status of any person the officer has stopped, arrested, or detained and "who is or should reasonably be suspected of being unlawfully present in the United States." Rep. Tom Creighton, a co-sponsor of the bill, told The Intelligencer Journal of Lancaster, "That's a real subjective decision by that officer. He has to make an evaluation every time he pulls anybody over." Inevitably, legal residents and citizens will be harassed.
Immigration is the responsibility of the federal government. HB 2479 creates a new state criminal offense for anyone who fails to follow federal law by not acquiring proper immigration papers. The constitution is clear that Congress is responsible for a policy on naturalization. Local and state governments are free to be frustrated with how the federal government has handled immigration. But they cannot take over immigration because they're frustrated.
Law enforcement will waste resources that could otherwise be used to keep our communities safe. Enforcing immigration law takes time. That time would be better spent on the street, building relationships and creating a presence in our cities and towns. Immigrants will learn not to trust the police and won't come forward as victims and witnesses.
HB 2479 also includes an unworkable E-Verify provision requiring all PA businesses to use the program. E-Verify is a federal online database program that is intended to allow employers to verify the work eligibility of employees. But the E-Verify databases are loaded with errors. Businesses that use E-Verify report that 10-15 percent of eligible workers are deemed ineligible by E-Verify, and the errors disproportionately affect legal residents and naturalized citizens.
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