Kentucky Refried Chickens

With a generous thanks to Yellow Dog for the tip this morning the in the comments, indeed Kentucky is considering its own version of Arizona's repugnant immigration law.

Lawmakers who have supported previous attempts to crack down on illegal immigration at the state level say the Kentucky General Assembly isn't likely to approve a law that allows local police to detain people they suspect are in the country illegally.

But they say recent developments should cause Kentucky to consider more carefully other legislative proposals aimed at the illegal immigration issue. "I've filed a number of bills to try to alleviate (the illegal immigration) problem in Kentucky and we've never got much traction on it," said state Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington.

Members of the Lexington-based group Kentuckians for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, which supports the Arizona law, say Kentucky lawmakers should first pass a measure that would penalize business owners if they don't verify the immigration status of their employees, said president Douglas Roy.

"We're not experiencing the level of violence that Arizona is seeing," Roy said. ''But we will if we don't do anything."

The renewed interest in illegal immigration is a worrisome development for immigrant advocates, who have successfully turned back previous attempts to enforce immigration laws at the state level.

Officials with the Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights issued a statement this week condemning the Arizona law as racial profiling and urging Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform to prevent other states from following suit.

The group is also calling for federal intervention to keep the Arizona law from being enacted.

"We condemn the law and the fervor that went into passing it," said Rachel Newton, an immigration attorney and a board member for the coalition.

Newton said she was concerned about the law's effect on Kentucky.

"Fear makes way and ignorance makes way for these kinds of proposals to gain traction," she said.

Gee, you think?  Let's be honest here, no matter which state you're in, on the border with Mexico or not, Republicans are going to be scaring the other 49 states in the country with the notion that the Great Brown Horde is coming for their jobs, their women, and their lives.  (Well, maybe not so much Hawaii, make that 48 states.  Yes Alaska, I'm looking at you still.)

Kentucky will be experiencing the "level of violence" that Arizona is unless we do...what, exactly?  Seal the border with Ohio with the Kentucky Colonels?  Put angry Teabaggers on the Brent Spence Bridge?  It's fearmongering that simply hasn't been thought through (it's fearmongering after all) and it's nothing but reactionary stupidity.

Then again, these are Kentucky Republicans we're talking about here.  Luckily, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear is highly unlikely to sign any foolishness like that into law.  Of course, the next time a Republican is in charge of Frankfort...

But hey, it's not like racial fearmongering is new in a state like Kentucky, folks.