Texas AG Ken Paxton Just Made It Harder to Attract Amazon HQ2

Does Amazon need another reason to knock Dallas off the list for its second headquarters? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is doing plenty to hurt our chances.This week, Paxton filed a lawsuit to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that offers temporary status to unauthorized immigrants who grew up in America and finished school here. Six states joined the suit.Like hundreds of other companies, Amazon is a big supporter of the so-called Dreamers. Last fall, Amazon was among the marquee names that signed on to a multistate lawsuit to keep DACA in place. In January 2017, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also opposed the travel ban ordered by President Donald Trump.“We’re a nation of immigrants whose diverse backgrounds, ideas and points of view have helped us build and invent as a nation for over 240 years,” Bezos said at the time.That history is relevant because Amazon is now evaluating bids to host a second headquarters, known as HQ2. It plans to eventually invest up to $5 billion and employ 50,000 high-paid workers, a bounty that set off an intense competition to land the prize.Amazon received offers from 238 locations and chose 20 finalists. Dallas and Austin made the cut, but the other six states that joined Paxton’s suit don’t have a city on the list.We have a lot on the line with Amazon, and Paxton just complicated our closing argument. Being hostile to immigrants — undocumented or otherwise — is not a pro-business plank.And attacking DACA, which is already being contested, reinforces some of the worst impressions of Texas: that top elected leaders are intolerant and unwelcoming — and willing to go after a vulnerable minority to score political points.“For global businesses that are looking to expand, these things matter,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy, a bipartisan group that advocates for immigration reform. “These companies want to be in places that people are proud of.”  Continue reading...