Hispanic chamber: Obama’s immigration action will stimulate Arizona’s economy
Nov 21, 2014, 7:49 PM | Updated: 7:49 pm
PHOENIX — Arizona’s economy will be stimulated and improved by President Barack Obama’s decision to use executive action and spare millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“It makes it difficult to plan for the future of the state’s economy with such a large population who are in the economy, but worried about deportation and cannot fully contribute,” said chamber spokesman James Garcia. “They can move freely about, spend money, pay federal income taxes and make contributions to the community.”
A statement from the chamber Thursday described the announcement as a “well-intentioned first step” in reforming the broken immigration system, but said more needs to done.
“President Obama’s decision, however, cannot be the final word on this matter, as Congress still must act decisively to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that permanently addresses the status of our U.S. immigrant population and our country’s future economic needs,” the statement said.
Obama’s announcement Thursday was a source of both celebration and derision across the country. Arizona leaders were quick to reply with their thoughts on the executive action, with most opining that the president should have worked with Congress first.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio even filed a lawsuit over the wide-ranging move. The lawsuit says Obama was “hijacking” previous immigration regulation and law by changing the definition of key terms to “create a radically new and different regime of immigration law and regulation.”
Obama’s administration previously stripped 100 of Arpaio’s deputies of their powers to make federal immigration arrests and filed a pending lawsuit against the sheriff’s office alleging racial profiling and other civil rights violations.
The president’s immigration changes would mainly cover parents of U.S. citizens and of legal residents as long as the parents have been in the U.S. for five years or more.
Obama also changed enforcement priorities by emphasizing the deportation of new illegal arrivals and criminals.
The KTAR Newsroom contributed to this report.