HCR 2060 and “Arizona Invasion Act” will disrupt economy, jobs and threaten public safety
PHOENIX — Today, over 100 prominent Arizona business, faith and community leaders issued an open letter urging Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria), and Senate President Warren Peterson (R-Gilbert) to provide solutions and oppose the HCR 2060 and “Arizona Invasion Act,” turbo-charged versions of the controversial “show me your papers” law – Senate Bill 1070 passed over 12 years ago and destroyed Arizona’s economy, public safety and reputation.
“Arizona cannot go backwards to the days of S.B. 1070. I defeated Russell Pearce because of SB 1070. It backfired and we became a purple state. With historic labor shortage, high inflation hammering every Arizonan, the state needs solutions not election-year scapegoating of vulnerable immigrant workers,” said Bob Worsley, former Republican Arizona State Senator and Co-Chair of the American Immigration Business Coalition. “HCR 2060 and the ‘Arizona Invasion Act’ would undermine Arizonans’ public safety, destroy our reputation and deteriorate our economy just like SB 1070 did. I urge our elected leaders to oppose these proposals and support legal work permits for long-term immigrant contributors and sensible border provisions advanced by U.S. Senators Krysten Sinema and Mark Kelly.”
“Anti-immigrant proposals will cause unnecessary disruption to the workforce. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we have three million open jobs. This labor shortage and further workforce disruption will drive up inflation and underscores the importance of adopting policies that attract and integrate workers rather than deter them,” said John Graham, president and CEO of Sunbelt Holdings.
“Arizona needs real solutions to our broken immigration system, but this bill targets small business owners by requiring them to shoulder the burden of immigration enforcement. We need sensible solutions for Arizona’s economy, not the criminalization of small businesses,” stated Kimber Lanning, CEO of Local First Arizona.
The House Concurrent Resolution 2060 passed the House of Representatives 31-28 on party line and is now headed to the Senate. Packaged as “SB 1070 2.0” -HR 2060, Senate Bill 1231 and House bills 2821 and 2748, would disrupt the workforce, undermine public safety, profile and criminalize otherwise law abiding immigrants.
WHO: Prominent signatories include: Bob Worsley, ABIC Co-Chair and Former Republican Arizona State Senator; CEO, ZenniHome, LLC; John Giles, Republican Mayor, City of Mesa; Adam Goodman, CEO, Goodmans; John Graham, CEO, Sunbelt Holdings; Christie Black, Arizona Chapter Coordinator, Mormon Women for Ethical Government; Irayda Flores, Owner, El Mar de Cortez Corp; Kimber Lanning, CEO, Local First Arizona; Paul Rockower, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council of Phoenix; Steven Zylstra, President and CEO, Arizona Technology Council; Civia Tamarkin, President, National Council of Jewish Women Arizona; Alan Tavassoli, President, Catholic Coalition for Migrant Justice; Jovanna Anzaldua, Owner, Comal Food Books & Goods; Rudy Apodaca, Past Chairman of the Board, East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; John Linder, Rabbi, Temple Solel; and, 90+ other business, faith and community leaders.
The full letter and its signatories is found here. The list will continue to be updated.
BACKGROUND:
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are 9.5 million job openings in the U.S., but only 6.5 million unemployed workers. Iif every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have nearly 3 million open jobs. Arizona currently only has 71 available workers for every 100 open jobs. If passed, these proposals will worsen labor shortage and further workforce disruption, driving up inflation for every Arizonan.
Arizona Republic: Congress must expand parole for immigrants, not negotiate it away | Opinion: America has an acute labor shortage. It would be disastrous to cut back humanitarian parole and immigrant work permits now.
December 22, 2023
Bob Worsley is a former Republican Arizona state senator and co-chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition, a bipartisan coalition of 1,400 employers and CEOs across the U.S. Rebecca Shi is executive director of the American Immigration Business Coalition (ABIC) and ABIC Action.