March 29, 2016 1700 West Washington St. Phoenix

March 29, 2016 1700 West Washington St. Phoenix

AZHCC Officers
___________________________________________________________________
March 29, 2016
1700 West Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Honorable Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Honorable Members of the
Arizona Legislature;
Several bills have been proposed this session in the Arizona
Legislature that target the state’s undocumented immigrant
population. The bills, in various stages of consideration, include,
SB1377, HB2024; HB2223, HB2370 and HB2451. The consequences
of the passage and implementation of these bills, individually and
collectively, is that they have the potential of reigniting the bitter and
controversial debate that surrounded the passage of SB 1070 in
2010—a package of legislation, incidentally, that has been virtually
gutted by the federal courts on grounds that the bulk of it was
unconstitutional.
We cannot forget that in the wake of SB 1070, the state’s reputation
was very seriously marred as the 24-hour news networks and other
national and international media outlets spread a distorted and
erroneous image of Arizona as an intolerant and bigoted community.
As a result, SB1070 inspired boycotts that cost Arizona hundreds of
millions in lost tourism dollars and economic activity linked in part to
the cancellation of major conventions and the discouragement of
national and international business investment. Likewise, tens of
thousands of immigrant families and their U.S.-born relatives left
Arizona, resulting in untold tens of millions in lost local and state tax
revenue, even as the state struggled to survive the Great Recession.
Six years later, our economy and reputation are on the rebound. The
housing industry is recovering. Most of the jobs lost in the recession
have returned. New investment is on the rise. Yet, this new wave of
punitive, immigration-related bills threatens to revive the costly and
bitter debate over immigration.
The Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce opposes these bills for
three primary reasons. 1) The federal courts, including the U.S.
Supreme Court, have ruled time and again that immigration policy
and enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government. 2)
Any emphasis on immigration by the Arizona Legislature (which still
includes members who sponsored and voted for SB1070) threatens to
hinder the important economic gains Arizonans have made over the
Chair
Douglas J. Yonko
Vice Chair External
Bill Barquin
Vice Chair Internal
Lorenzo Sierra
Immediate past Chair
Lisa Urias
Vice Chair Foundation
Tony Astorga
Secretary
Miguel Bravo
Treasurer
Armando A. Roman
Legal Counsel
Leonardo Loo
Executive Committee
Roberto Espiritu
President & CEO
Gonzalo A. de la Melena, Jr.
Board of Directors
Olga Aros
Reg Ballantyne
Marisa S. Benincasa
Dennis F. Bonilla
Manuel H. Cairo
Chris Camacho
Manuel Chavez
Luis De La Cruz
Yvonne Faustinos
Javier Feliciano
Yolanda France
Anna Garcia
Guadalupe Gomez
Steven R. Gonzales, Ed.D.
Carlos Gonzalez
Mayra J. Gonzalez
Julio Herrera
Roy Herrera, Jr.
Lori Higuera
Deanna Jonovich
Don Kile
Jaime Leija
Lita Lopez
Joseph A. Losada
Steve Macias
Mario Martinez II
Julian Nabozny
Bettina Nava
Daniel R. Ortega, Jr.
Jorge Quintero
Luis E. Ramirez Thomas
Josh Rawitch
Ed Torriente
Lorena Valencia
Charlene T. Vasquez
Roberto Yañez
Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce | 255 E. Osborn Road, Suite 201, Phoenix, AZ 85012 | [602] 279.1800 | www.azhcc.com
past several years. 3) In order for Arizona to flourish economically, the state’s
leadership must set a tone of tolerance, inclusiveness and respect for the role and
influence of multicultural communities, particularly given that our state’s population is
fast approaching minority-majority status.
Furthermore, it is imperative that we reject these bills given the ongoing and deeply
offensive tone of the national discussion over immigration that has surfaced in recent
months, a tone that has inspired deep divisions in many communities with regards to
the presence of undocumented and documented immigrants across our nation. Arizona
must resist any temptation to perpetuate the bitter and hateful views of those who are
more intent on driving our respective communities apart instead of building American
solidarity.
Therefore, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce strongly urges our state’s
leaders to reject the passage of the immigration-related bills under consideration for the
sake of the state’s social unity and economic prosperity.
Respectfully,
Gonzalo A. de la Melena, Jr.
AZHCC President & CEO
Douglas J. Yonko
Chair of the Board
Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce | 255 E. Osborn Road, Suite 201, Phoenix, AZ 85012 | [602] 279.1800 | www.azhcc.com