Phoenix mayor sees economic side of 1070
Jun 25, 2012, 8:26 AM | Updated: 3:28 pm
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said regardless of the decision by the high court, SB 1070 has done economic harm to the city.
“I support comprehensive immigration reform but not 1070. I believe we need stronger border security but 1070 and border security have nothing to do with each other,” Stanton said.
Stanton said Phoenix will soon be a majority Latino city and that’s a strength.
“It’s a young population, a bilingual population and trade with Mexico will be an ever increasing part of our economy,” Stanton said.
Stanton also would like state lawmakers to stop attempting to pass divisive laws, which he believes is sending a mixed message to the community, and is taking the focus off of the real issues like creating jobs and boosting education.
“I believe that from this day forward you are going to see much smarter public policy out of this state,” Stanton said. “I think the business community, which understands that 1070 is not smart, economic policy, is stepping up to the plate in a much stronger way and they are going to do what they can to not allow these divisive bills pass.”
Stanton also believes we can’t have a patchwork of state laws on immigration around the country. He expressed the importance of Congress passing a comprehensive reform plan and doing right by the state and this country.
“We need comprehensive immigration reform, we need to support the dream act and we also need to continue to support strong border security,” Stanton said. “I think that [Monday’s] Supreme Court ruling hopefully laid bare that 1070 was not about border security but was about something much different and of course the Supreme Court said that most of 1070 was unconstitutional.”
