Law School Panelists Weigh Localized Immigration Laws

Four legal experts discussed the growing number of local governments attempting to exert control over immigration policy, a hot issue in the ongoing presidential campaign in a panel discussion at the Law School Wednesday night.

The panel, held in the Case Lounge at the Law School’s Jerome L. Greene Hall before a crowd of about 40, centered on an ordinance passed in Hazleton, Penn. in the summer of 2006. The regulation, called the “Illegal Immigration Relief Act,” forbade the hiring, renting of property, or providing goods or services to illegal aliens under the penalty of a fine.

The ordinance was later repealed in federal court, but it has led to debate over what constitutionally falls into federal or state domain. All four panelists expressed concerns over the constitutionality of the ordinance and those that have followed it.

“It’s hard to write law that works within the structure of federal law without creating conflict,” panelist Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said.

The regulation has led over 30 towns and cities across the nation to adopt their own versions of the ordinance, marking a shift in immigration policy. While immigration law had traditionally been left to the federal government, some local governments have chosen to intervene.

According to George Barron, an immigration attorney and Hazleton native, such ordinances have yet to gain momentum in larger cities like New York. This is in part, he said, due to concern from law enforcement that ordinances forcing them to report all illegal aliens would scare off informants without papers.

“Big city police departments want no part of these laws,” Barron said.

Adjunct Professor of Law Lenni Benson, who teaches immigration law at Columbia Law School and attended the panel, said afterward that implementing such measures might have unintended consequences for the city.

“You need immigration lawyers, really experienced ones, to look at all your workers, look at all their verification, to make that kind of assessment,” Benson said. “Of course big businesses will do that. Small businesses might be shut out. So there are these collateral consequences that I don’t think people are aware of.”

But Benson and Justin Steele, Law ’10, cited the recent increase in tensions between law enforcement and the immigrant population in Long Island and Suffolk County as instances of changing regard for illegal immigrants.

Panel attendee Mangesh Dhume, Law ’08, expressed doubts that these ordinances would have an effect on New York immigrant policy.

“New York has a long history of welcoming immigrants and immigration,” Dhume said. “New York is really a gateway to America.”

alix.pianin@columbiaspectator.com