Hoping to ride anti-immigrant sentiment to victory in the fall elections, Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Barry Wong has proposed cutting off public utility service to those who cannot prove their legal status. The Corporation Commission regulates public utilities including gas, water and electricity in the state. Under Wong’s proposal, public utilities would be required, as a regulatory mandate, to check the immigration status of customers. Without racial or ethnic profiling, of course.
Wong claims the proposal has nothing to do with illegal immigrants. He claims it’s an economic measure, arguing that providing service to illegal immigrants increases the cost to the private companies providing the service, and that the increased costs are passed along to legal residents. The core of his position appears to be that Arizonans will have to build more power plants if illegal immigrants use electricity. His position does not account for illegals offsetting costs by paying their utility bills, or the impact of increased service usage generally.
Wong admits that the utilities would have to spend additional money to perform immigration checks, though he is silent on those costs being passed along to others. He argues that such costs would be outweighed by infrastructure savings. APS, the state’s largest electric utility had no idea how it would implement such a policy. Through a spokesman, APS said, “Immigration is…not a utility issue.”
Of his proposal, Wong said,
“I’m sure there will be criticisms about human rights violations. Is power or gas or any type of utility we regulate, is that a right that people have? It is not a right. It is a service.”
None of the five other candidates, including his two fellow Republicans, thought much of the proposal. Republican Gary Pierce, who serves on the Corporation Commission and famously suggested that Los Angeles not buy electric power from Arizona after the city’s decision to boycott the state, wouldn’t go as far as Wong. “That’s not an argument I think we’ll involve ourselves in,” says Pierce.
Wong’s proposal would apply only to residential customers and not to business customers. While his comments have centered around electricity, the proposal would also cover natural gas and many public water suppliers in the state.
Cross posted at Elijah’s Sweete Spot.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.