Business interests typically don't like "get tough" proposals on illegal immigration because they threaten to deprive employers of a source of cheap labor. They especially don't like the proposals when, as was the the case with the House bill, they include provisions that put the onus on businesses to verify the residency status of their employees or face penalties.
However, there's an additional dynamic in play in the states.
As George Grayson, a professor at the College of William & Mary and former Virginia legislator, explained to me, the states where business interests are strongest are also the places where anti-immigrant sentiment is most widespread.
For example, Grayson, who favors tougher immigration laws, points out that almost all states in the South are right-to-work states--a good barometer of the political strength of the business community. On the other hand, a recent poll showed that residents of Southern states are more likely than people in other parts of the country to view immigrants as taking jobs away from Americans, rather than doing jobs native-born Americans don't want.
In recent years, the business lobby has usually gotten its way. Very few states have passedimmigration legislation. But with illegal immigration becoming more and more of a front burner concern, this clash between conservative voters and powerful conservative business groups is likely to give Southern Republican legislators fits.
