Reply #144: AZ Immigration Law in TN based on ALEC Model [View All]

Behind the scenes is the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a Washington, D.C., think tank that provided Ketron with a template for his bill. ALEC, a national nonprofit organization for GOP state legislators, has Tennessee lawmakers as members. CCA is a corporate member and attended a meeting this year where the think tank adopted the Arizona law as model immigration legislation.
Private prison critics fear that CCA will use its influence to pass the Arizona law in Tennessee, while immigrant advocates point to the devastating effect the law could have on the state's economy. CCA officials deny any such legislative agenda.

The starting point for Ketron was a draft bill provided by ALEC, which has quietly become a trusted resource for conservative lawmakers, including a contingent from Tennessee. Earlier this year, six members from the state House of Representatives attended ALEC's annual conference in San Diego. Taxpayers paid for the trip at a cost of $15,000.
State Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, who attended the August trip, said lawmakers used the conference to get ideas for new legislation.
"You literally look at legislation that other states have passed or are proposing," Haynes said. "You sit around a table and discuss it, and then you vote on the legislation you think should be model legislation" for ALEC.
But ALEC comprises more than just legislators. Corporations also sponsor the organization and attend its conferences. Among those is CCA, though the prison company stated on its website that it does not vote on proposed model legislation.
CCA has vehemently denied that it played a role in pushing the Arizona law.
"We have given no support of any kind or opposition," CCA spokesman Steve Owen said. "We've had zero involvement with any immigration law in any part of the country, including Arizona."
However, CCA was at least in the room as ALEC adopted the Arizona law as the model legislation that is the premise for Ketron's bill. An ALEC representative said CCA attended the meetings where the model legislation was drafted.
"They can pay as a nonmember and come to a meeting and sit in on a task force meeting," said ALEC spokeswoman Raegan Weber. "To my knowledge, that is what CCA did. They had nothing to do with the construction of the bill."