State-level immigration laws are getting stricter and stricter, thanks to the governments in states like Arizona and Alabama. In these particular locations, anyone who is stopped for any reason by the police can be pressed to show a green card. If the person is suspicious because of their race, and they can't produce a green card on the spot, the police have the right to haul that person off to jail and set a court date for an illegal immigration violation. Yet many businesses, particularly agriculture businesses, throughout the country are realizing that these immigration laws are doing more damage than good. The agricultural leaders of businesses that were harmed by these laws rallied in Atlanta in June to perform the first-ever Southeast Summer on Immigration. These people wanted to gather together and demonstrate the devastating economic toll that the immigration laws are having on local economies.

According to Time Magazine, the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering the constitutionality of Arizona's incredible harsh immigration laws. In the state, being an undocumented immigrant is a crime punishable by jail and deportation. Two dozen states have rejected measures that are similar to Arizona's, but five states have passed similar, lighter measures in an effort to rid their state of illegal aliens. Arizona hoped that their heavy hand on immigrants would push the state into economic prosperity, but it has done just the opposite. According to the research done by the Center for American Progress and Research Policy Center, Arizona lost about $141 million, including $45 million in hotel room cancellations. They also lost $96 million in commercial revenue.

There was a drop in tourism which cost 2,761 Arizona citizens their jobs. When added up, this means that there was $253 million lost in economic output. The laws in Arizona could cause about 580,000 undocumented workers to lose their occupations, and the state has lost about $1.9 million to lawsuits about the immigration laws. All in all, the immigration laws could pose an estimate $10.8 billion loss to the state's GDP. With this danger in the forecast, it's no wonder that people are speaking out against the Arizona laws. Other states have also taken notice of the threat. In Kentucky, the state concluded that passing legislation like Arizona would cost them at least $89 million annually. Most of those costs would be in training police officers of the new legislation and how to deal with undocumented workers that they come in contact with. In Florida, officials argued that harsh immigration laws could eliminate the $4.5 billion a year that immigrants contribute to the states in taxes.

There's also the danger of the rotting produce that has sent farms in Arizona and Alabama reeling. When their workers fled in an attempt to escape the immigration laws, they were sent into frenzy. Unable to hire new immigrants to work in their fields, many of the farmers had to cut their acreage and leave produce rotting. In Georgia, 56 percent of farmers say that they are having a hard time finding people to come harvest in their fields. The labor shortages could cost up to $1 billion. With all these negative repercussions, many immigrants hope that the states will realize that they are damaging their state rather than helping it by implanting laws that deal so severely with immigrants. By lessening these laws, the states may be able to eradicate the lost costs. If you are involved in an immigration case right now, the debates over the constitutionality of these laws could prove to be a deal breaker in your case.