Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave proponents of harsher border enforcement a sports car of a Christmas present when he signed a bill Monday that enables state and local authorities to arrest non-American migrants who are in the state unlawfully. Undocumented individuals who are apprehended will either be sent back to their country of origin or subject to prosecution.
The move, an encroachment on the enforcement responsibility of federal agents, will land restaurants in a no-win situation when (and if) the law takes effect in March. The industry is certain to lose employees, a party more precious than customers at the moment, and can’t even muster a full-throated objection without admitting criminal activity. It would have to acknowledge that many of the law’s targets are working right now in kitchens and dining rooms, in clear violation of immigration regulations.
Take a minute to sound the usual denials and rationalization that there’s no ironclad way of verifying if a foreign-born individual has the needed approval to work legally in the U.S. Just don’t expect me or any other longtime observer of the business to swallow that restaurants would never knowingly hire someone who’s unauthorized.
About 10% of the industry’s workforce, currently at about 12.4 million individuals, are employed illegally in restaurants, according to the restaurant website Nibblematrix.com. No doubt some of them are working because their employers decided to take a risk and defy the rules.
It's the industry’s dirty secret, though one that’s hardly well-kept. Still, there’s no way of opposing Abbott’s move without sounding like abettors and a pro-lawbreaking business.
Fortunately for the industry, other opponents have taken up the fight, though they’re hardly the usual allies. Abbott’s signature on Senate Bill 4 was still drying when the American Civil Liberties Union and its Texas chapter stepped forward with a host of other opponents to sue the state, arguing the new law is unconstitutional and pre-empted by federal law.
Among the plaintiffs was the County of El Paso, Texas, a jurisdiction right on the border with Mexico. Its inclusion underscores that legal authorities within the state are opposed to S.B. 4 because they lack the manpower, jail space, courtroom bandwidth and other resources to meet the responsibilities that have been foisted on them.
The legal challenge appears to stand a good chance of succeeding. Court decisions have upheld that immigration is the domain of the federal government, not the states.
The industry is lucky that parties with moral and legal objections are carrying its water on this one. But it shouldn’t read the situation as being given a pass. Rather, what’s happening in Texas should be a poke in the butt to protect a key labor source by pushing for commonsensical, comprehensive immigration reform.
It’d no doubt be a firefight, given how high passions tend to run on immigration measures. But what would any citizen rather have, a U.S. newcomer who’s sitting in some type of holding facility, living off what accommodations and sustenance are provided, or someone who’s working to support themselves and their families, paying taxes in the process?
Maybe that’s what the industry should speak out about.