· Queen City News · By Molly Priddy · From the Border Crossing Law Firm media archive.
Queen City News examines whether Montana actually had the unauthorized-worker crisis invoked by several state senators. Shahid notes that Montana's undocumented population was very small, that many foreign workers around Big Sky held visas, and that training local police to enforce immigration law would leave officers deciding whom to question largely by appearance or accent.
The article places Montana's 2009 bills within a national strategy of state and local immigration enforcement after federal reform efforts stalled. It also records an important disagreement about the target of policy: lawmakers blamed workers, while Shahid urged closer scrutiny of employers and labor practices.