January 31, 2008 9:01 PM
Suffolk County is considering another anti-immigrant law. The proposal is already attracting national attention. Every year such a proposal comes up and serves as a vehicle for the neo-Know Nothings to rally round the flag of nativism. It almost doesn't matter what the bill is. One year it may be English-Only, the next it might be withdrawing money from a bank used by large numbers of immigrants. The point of these bills typically is not to legislate, but to agitate.
With Suffolk Exec Steve Levy eying statewide office (there may be an opening following the Clinton shuffle) anti-immigrant legislation lets him corner the Democratic Populist brand. Actually accomplishing something is less important than being identified with a perceived popular animus towards immigrants and Latinos.
There is a reasonable chance that this bill may pass, and next week I'll try to discuss what passage would mean, but in many ways the bill's biggest accomplishment has been redirecting attention towards its intellectual author.