Immigration act wrong

Friday, June 25, 2010 | 3 a.m.

With Nevada’s unemployment rate running at an unheard of 14 percent, the last thing the state needs is anything that will deter travel to and spending in Las Vegas, Reno and the state’s other tourism destinations.

But a proposed Nevada immigration initiative, like Arizona’s controversial law requiring police to question anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally, threatens to do just that.

The measure, proposed by Assemblyman and failed U.S. Senate candidate Chad Christensen, if passed would likely deter travel to Nevada by Hispanics.

It would probably also result in boycotts and canceled meetings and conventions by groups opposed to targeting people based on their race or national origin.

Christensen, who in the Legislature has supported restricting services to undocumented immigrants, claims illegal immigrants cost the state more than $700 million a year in education, health care and incarceration expenses.

It’s not know if that number is anywhere near realistic and, in looking at it, we must also recognize spending and other economic benefits provided by immigrants — as well as the costs to the state to attempt to round up illegal immigrants and turn them over to the feds for deportation

The bigger issue is this: Illegal immigration is a problem facing every state and rather than dealing with the issue on a state-by-state basis, this cries out for a national solution.

Fortunately, numerous organizations and individuals are working to block Christensen’s immigration measure and every Nevada business executive and owner should back these efforts.

Court challenges to the initiative have been filed by groups as diverse as the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the Nevada Open for Business Coalition, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Nevada Resort Association.

The business coalition, which includes Assemblymen Moises Denis and Ruben Kihuen, and Latin Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Otto Merida, all of Las Vegas, says the petition is an “election year mashup of an Arizona anti-immigration measure that has cost that state $100 million in lost revenue.”

The Nevada Resort Association, representing casinos, and the LVCVA stated in stark terms that a Nevada immigration initiative would have “severe economic consequences on our tourism and convention business.”

“At a time when it is critical to attract new business and revitalize our economy, proposing a controversial new immigration law would be counterproductive,” said Keith Smith, Boyd Gaming CEO and chairman of the resort association. “Over the past two years, we have experienced unprecedented economic struggles, including declines in convention business and visitor spending. Our entire state’s economic well-being has suffered as a result. As recovery is taking hold nationally, we cannot afford to create unnecessary distractions that could hurt our ability to promote Nevada as one of the world’s top business, convention, and tourism destinations.”

The resort association and the LVCVA, in their legal filing, also pointed out something that should trouble all Nevada business owners and executives: The proposed initiative would impose burdensome new state requirements aimed at blocking the employment of illegal immigrants — something prohibited by federal law.

The LVCVA and the resort association said in their complaint that the initiative would require employers to register with the state and participate in an “E-Verify” program.

Another portion of the initiative would establish the “Employer Sanctions Legislative Study Committee.”

Enough!

Nevada businesspeople have enough problems just meeting payroll without having to worry about responding to employment verification requests from the attorney general or district attorneys.

At a time when the state is already struggling to attract new businesses and investment, and resorts are scrambling to fill their hotel rooms and keep their casino floors busy, the last thing Nevada needs is an initiative that may deter travel to the state, create racial and ethnic divisions in our community and impose unnecessary burdens on businesses.

We urge all businesses to support efforts to quash the initiative in court so that the entire issue can quickly be put behind us.