For Now, Illegal Immigration Reform Petition Dead

Well, the bullies won. Chad Christensen, who wanted to start a petition drive to have Nevadans vote on an illegal immigration law similar to Arizona, dropped his petition after a series of lawsuits were filed before the petitions were even circulated.
From the Las Vegas Sun: "Faced with a number of lawsuits, Las Vegas Assemblyman Chad Christensen has abandoned his initiative petition to enact an immigration law in Nevada similar to one in Arizona.
Ron Futrell, a spokesman for Christensen, said he expects the issue will still show up during the 2011 Legislature. He said it is estimated that state and local governments in Nevada spent $700 million in 2005 to educate, imprison and provide medical care for those in the country illegally.
A number of groups filed suit to block the Christensen petition and Futrell said that put it on hold, making it impossible to gather 97,002 signatures by Nov. 8.
If successful, it would have been submitted to the 2011 Legislature. If the Legislature rejected it, the plan would go on the 2012 ballot for voters to decide."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/13/nevada-illegal-immigration-petition-dropped/
The plain fact is that Christensen is not a wealthy man and he would have put up thousands of dollars of his own money to fight the lawsuit.
This is the case where you had a bunch of bullies throwing their fat bellies around including business groups, pro-illegal immigration groups, racist organzations and others- conservative and liberals who like illegal immigration. Especially appalling were supposed conservative groups- business owners, who apparently believe that they would lose money if Nevada adopted the law. I guess some were also afraid that may lose cheap labor because they hire some workers who are illegal.
So, in the end, the bullies won and Nevada will continue to suffer from the illegal immigration problem.
At least Christensen opened the door for the next group and he put the issue out there in the open. Thanks, Chad, for that.