The Gulag Casino Economic Model And Arizona's SB1070

11-01-2010 • nashvillescene.com/

If there was ever any doubt that the bill signed into law by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had absolutely nothing to do with securing the border, let it be dispelled with prejudice. Last December, a number of Arizona lawmakers attended a meeting in Washington, D.C., for the aptly named American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). That's a group composed of legislators, CCA, tobacco giant Reynolds American, ExxonMobil, the National Rifle Association and other companies who pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend these gatherings of "conservative, free-market oriented, limited-government" folks. It was there that Arizona's immigration bill was drawn up. CCA naturally stood to gain the most. Citing a company document, NPR reported the company expected a "significant portion" of its future revenues to come from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the detention of undocumented immigrants. When the bill, virtually unchanged from the language and substance laid down by its legislative and corporate authors, made it to the Arizona House floor, two-thirds of its sponsors were members of ALEC. Over the next several months, most of the bill's co-sponsors received donations from CCA and other corrections companies. Gov. Brewer, whose two top advisers are former private prison company lobbyists, immediately signed the bill.