Waking Up to Life Without Immigrants

Last month Oklahoma passed legislation barring services for undocumented immigrants funded at tax-payer expense. The statute, which also requires employers to verify immigration status and work eligibility, penalizes businesses for knowingly employing workers without papers. The legislation worked; many immigrants (both documented and not) have left the state, and those that have chosen to remain are too afraid to go outside their homes.

And like Riverside, New Jersey, the state of Oklahoma is quickly realizing how big a mistake it has made. Contrary to what Dobbs and Tancredo insist, the immigrant population is an integral part of our economies. Immigrants work, pay taxes, buy cars, buy houses. Without their labor and economic presence, costs of houses and groceries go up and local businesses close.

Hopefully the people of Oklahoma will correct this legislation and serve as yet another example of the consequences of scapegoating the most vulnerable members of our communities.