· KPAX · By Lindsey Gordon · From the Border Crossing Law Firm media archive.
KPAX reports on debate over House Bill 297, which would have suspended the business license of a Montana employer found to have hired an undocumented worker. Shahid Haque warned that a complaint system could be driven by rumor, language, or skin color rather than actual knowledge of a person's status, and noted that undocumented Canadians were less likely to attract suspicion because they could more easily blend in.
Shahid's testimony identified the racial-profiling risk built into a law that relied on members of the public to suspect who was undocumented. The debate also challenged the common political image of immigration in Montana by pointing to the state's Canadian population.