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GOP hearings focus on illegal immigration


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By Lindsay Minnema
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 28, 2006


HARRISBURG - Members of the state House Republican Policy Committee announced plans Tuesday to address illegal immigration issues in a series of summer hearings across the state, including one in Pittsburgh.
The announcement came one day after the House approved a resolution encouraging Congress and President Bush to secure the nation's borders against illegal immigrants.

The four hearings will review the cost of illegal immigration to taxpayers and the effect it has on employment opportunities. Participants also would analyze what role state government should play in combating illegal immigration.

"If Congress continues to delay as they have, we will have to step up and fill the void," committee Chairman Rep. Mario Civera, R-Delaware County, said. "If they do eventually act, we have to be aware our scope of authority, and how we can react to what they do."





The Pittsburgh hearing is scheduled Aug. 2. Others are to be held in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley in July.

Although the hearings are not intended to focus on legislation, at least two bills introduced to the House last week are sure to come up in discussion.

One bill would prohibit state agencies from providing publicly funded services or benefits to illegal immigrants. The other would make it a felony for employers to hire illegal immigrants.

"The security of our state and our nation are at risk," the bills' chief sponsor, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, said last week. "If we shut off the flow of dollars available to illegal immigrants, they'll have to go home."