Immigration, Enforcement, and Consequences

On May 7, 2007, I had the opportunity to speak before the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and to share my concerns over recent "sweeps" by the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office.   While sound bites from the press conference following the meeting have appeared in the media, they never tell the whole story.  There just is never enough time on the nighly news.

So, here is the official transcript I read from in the meeting - please tell me what you think.

Joan Koerber-Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Arizona Small Business Association

May 7, 2008 - Transcript of Statement to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Andy Kunasek – Chairman, Fulton Brock (Absent), Don Stapley, Max Wilson, Mary Rose Wilcox

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to come before you today on behalf of the citizens and small business owners in our community. As CEO of the Arizona Small Business Association, my role is to lead a statewide organization that supports the growth of businesses in our community. Twenty three hundred of these companies make Maricopa County their home with the support of over 200,000 Arizona employees.

First, I wish to commend and thank the MCSO and all public safety agencies across our state for their efforts in law enforcement and in building a strong and vibrant community where our businesses and our employees can prosper. You put your passion to work for us and your lives on the line – we appreciate you.

My purpose here today is not to interpret our state or federal laws. We are a nation of laws, and our laws must be respected. If some laws need to be corrected, we are lucky to live in a land where that can happen.

I come before you to express concern – not over enforcement of our laws, but rather the manner of enforcement which been employed by the MCSO in recent weeks and to highlight current and potential unintended consequences to our businesses, our citizens, and our community.

Recent enforcement actions, termed "MCSO Sweeps" in the media have portrayed para-military operations targeted at areas within our community that are highly populated by citizens of Hispanic descent. These actions have appeared on the national news, the worldwide web, and in our local media. The result:

The reputation and image of our community as a pace where businesses can begin, come to, flourish, and grow – is being supplanted by visions of police action, social unrest, and lack of cohesion between our leaders at the county and city level.

Out of fear or simply to avoid potential involvement, some of our citizens – who are also customers of small businesses – avoid these parts of our community. In an already challenging economy, loss of custom means loss of business, and ultimately, as we are already seeing, the potential for our community to lose some of these businesses permanently and with them the jobs they provide to our citizens.

Lastly, these highly publicized, community targeted actions are drawing together crowds of individuals. Many are frustrated, angry, or fearful and reside on both sides of the issue. This combination could easily escalate into violence creating a threat to our officers, our citizens, and to small businesses in the area. Some of which may never recover.

In conclusion, it is not our intention or desire to impede the efforts of law enforcement, to disregard the importance of our laws or to interpret them. I am simply asking that you review the current process, consider both the intended and unintended consequences, and offer counsel to the MCSO.

Thank you.