SB 6, the Arizona copycat bill, does not pass House Local Government Committee

Senate Bill 6, the anti-immigrant, Arizona copycat bill sponsored by Sen. John Schickel and Sen. Brandon Smith received the second of two hearings Wednesday in the House Local Government Committee. The committee didn't vote on the bill but heard about an hour of testimony that ranged from insightful and educational to irrelevant and offensive.

KFTC members from central and northern Kentucky, as well as allies from groups like the ACLU and faith communities, attended the packed hearing. An overflow room was also nearly full.

Below is a list of the testimony offered in opposition to SB 6:

• Marilyn Daniel, volunteer attorney and founder of Maxwell Street Legal Clinic in Lexington, a pro bono and low-cost legal clinic that's been serving families with immigration issues for about 12 years. Highlights of Daniel's testimony include an overview of the complexities of our current immigration system that would make enforcing SB 6 nearly impossible, a breakdown of how the bill would impact Kentucky families (especially families that are of mixed legal status, and would surely be torn apart by SB 6), and how the bill goes beyond enforcing current federal law by creating five new categories of crime.

• Marian McClure Taylor, the executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches. Taylor focused on Kentucky churches' concern for the "quality of fabric of our communities." She pointed out the faith communities' obligation to serve all communities, and how SB 6 would criminalize that obligation.
• Hopkinsville Police Chief Guy Howie and Jerry Wagner, executive director of the
  Kentucky Sheriffs Association. Both testified to the enormous strain that SB 6 would put on their workload.

Testifying in support of SB 6 was the bill's sponsor, Sen. Schickel, who testified that the bill was intended to enforce federal law – a point that Rep. Jim Wayne and Marilyn Daniels both refuted by pointing out that in fact the bill creates five new crimes. 

Also testifying in support of SB 6 was Douglas Roy, president of Kentuckians For Immigration Reform and Enforcement (KFIRE).  Part of Roy's testimony was from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which is listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate group watch list. 

Here's a snippet of his speech, published on KFIRE's website: "Some have been hit by unlicensed and uninsured drivers; some exposed to heretofore eradicated diseases; some whose lives have been upended by aliens who have stolen their social security number. Identity theft is an epidemic and forty million social security cards have been compromised! Then there are the children and adults whose lives, sadly, have been dramatically devastated: molested, raped, robbed, or murdered by violent alien criminals."

Committee Chair Rep. Steve Riggs interrupted Roy and said testimony should focus on the bill. Rep. Jim Wayne said Roy's testimony contained "venom" and was "self-righteous."

KFTC members were relieved that the bill did not go further than this committee today, but will continue to learn about and act on immigration issues.  As Homer White, a Scott County KFTC member put it, "We all share a common future."