Thread: Missouri calls for wide restrictions aims 7 bills at illegal

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14457226.htm

Posted on Sat, Apr. 29, 2006

Missouri calls for wide restrictions
State aims 7 bills at illegals

By TIM HOOVER
The Star’s Jefferson City correspondent

JEFFERSON CITY — As debate rages in Washington over immigration reform, Missouri lawmakers suddenly have found themselves caught up in the fray.

From crafting measures that would deny college admission and certain social services to undocumented immigrants, to using the Highway Patrol to enforce immigration laws, legislators have filed seven bills — a record number — aimed at making Missouri a less hospitable place for those who have entered the country unlawfully.

The topic of undocumented immigration has become so prominent in Jefferson City that House Speaker Rod Jetton has appointed a committee of legislators to study how it affects employment, law enforcement and government programs.

“We just don’t know how big a problem it is in Missouri,” Jetton said. “Employers are really struggling with how to know if they’ve got illegal immigrants.”

At least two measures have passed their chambers and appear to be getting significant bipartisan support. The bills also have caused a split among Democrats, particularly those in urban areas.

The spate of legislation also has taken aback some in the state’s Hispanic community, which does not have a strong lobbying presence in Jefferson City.

Sen. Bill Alter, a High Ridge Republican and sponsor of one bill, said the legislation was partly the result of what some see as inaction by the federal government.

“I believe it (the bill) is necessary because we’ve got an influx of illegal immigrants into the state of Missouri,” Alter said. “Illegals in this state are taking jobs that should go to Missourians.”

Opponents, though, see a different motivation.

“It’s popular in an election year to do these things. People say, ‘I’m not going to be accused of being soft on illegals,’” said former lawmaker Paul Rojas, a Democrat who represented part of Kansas City from 1972 to 1978.

Rojas said the bills were “just compounding the animosity toward all Hispanics.”

Alter’s bill, SB1250, awaits House approval after being passed by the Senate this week. It is the most restrictive of the immigration measures lawmakers have considered so far. The bill would:

■ Give the Highway Patrol the power to enforce federal immigration laws. The Highway Patrol, which now reports undocumented immigrants to federal authorities, must let many undocumented immigrants go free when they are stopped because federal officials are too busy to take custody of them, Highway Patrol officials said.

■ Give local police the power to detain undocumented immigrants and transport them across state lines to federal authorities.

■ Require local jails to report undocumented immigrants to federal officials.

■ Bar undocumented immigrants from attending public universities.

■ Punish contractors on public projects who “knowingly” use undocumented workers by barring them for three years from getting government contracts.

Meanwhile, the House passed its own bill that would bar undocumented immigrants from attending state universities. On a separate but related issue, the House also passed a measure that would require that English be the language in Missouri of all official proceedings — such as court hearings, city hall meetings and legislative debate.

Gov. Matt Blunt supports Alter’s bill “in principle” but wants to review it more closely, said his spokesman, Spence Jackson. The governor has not taken a position on the House measure dealing specifically with college admittance for undocumented immigrants or the bill making English the language of official proceedings, Jackson said.

Sen. Tim Green, a St. Louis Democrat with strong ties to labor unions, long has pushed for tougher sanctions on employers who hire undocumented workers. It was Green’s language penalizing contractors on public projects that was added to Alter’s bill.

“I believe if you’re in the community illegally, you shouldn’t be working and competing against taxpaying citizens for jobs,” Green said.

Only three Democrats voted against Alter’s bill in the Senate. One of them, Sen. Joan Bray of St. Louis County, said the legislation is meant to boost Republican voter turnout in November.

“I think it’s playing to the base of the Republican Party and making them anxious and frightful that they may lose something,” Bray said.

She said she found it “inexplicable” that Democrats backed the legislation.

In the House, Rep. Rachel Storch, a St. Louis Democrat known for being an advocate of the poor, voted in favor of the bill that would deny college admission to undocumented workers and for the bill that would make English the language of official proceedings. She joined a number of Democrats, several from urban areas, in supporting the bills.

“I think there probably is a split (among Democrats),” Storch said. “I think that as a society, we should not take a punitive approach toward children or individuals who may be in this country through no choice of their own, but at the same time we have to be careful when we craft public policy that we don’t create incentives for illegal behavior.”

Rep. John Burnett, a Kansas City Democrat who voted against both bills, also took note of the split. He said it is popular among both parties to attack undocumented immigrants.

“Illegal immigrants are so powerless, they’re an inviting target for people to kick,” Burnett said.

Cris Medina, executive director of Guadalupe Centers Inc. in Kansas City, which provides social services to the Hispanic community, called Alter’s legislation “political grandstanding” and “immigrant-bashing.”

He also questioned the wisdom of denying college admittance to children of undocumented immigrants who already may have spent years attending schools in Missouri.

“What’s the difference if they go to school after 12 years?” Medina asked.

The issue has caught the attention of the Missouri Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Catholic Church in Missouri. In a letter, the organization urged lawmakers to reject the legislation aimed at undocumented immigrants.

“Even Jesus, Mary and Joseph became refugees or illegal aliens, fleeing their homeland to sojourn in Egypt,” the letter said. “Abraham welcomed strangers who turned out to be messengers from God.

“We are a nation of immigrants, and certainly not all of our grandparents and great-grandparents had their ‘papers in order.’”


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Other immigration bills

■ SB 988: Bars employers on public projects from employing undocumented workers and imposes fines of $10 per day per undocumented worker on employers who violate the law. Prohibits employers found guilty of breaking the law from bidding on public projects for 10 years.

Status: Awaits a Senate hearing.

■ SB 1121: Requires employers to withhold 2 percent of the earnings paid to undocumented workers and give that money to the state. Forbids government loans to employers who hire undocumented workers. Imposes fines for employers who try to classify undocumented workers as independent contractors.

Status: Has passed a Senate committee.

■ HB 1796: Makes it a felony to “knowingly” or with “criminal negligence” employ undocumented workers. Takes away the business licenses of employers who are convicted, and levies fines up to $250,000 for repeat offenses.

Status: Awaits a House committee hearing.

■ HB 1864: Prohibits undocumented immigrants from attending state colleges and universities. Requires universities to certify that they have not “knowingly” admitted undocumented immigrants before they can receive appropriations.

Status: Has passed the House and is set for a Senate committee hearing.

■ HB 1927: Prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving services through literacy programs, Parents as Teachers, vocational classes or after-school tutoring programs. Also prohibits undocumented immigrants from getting in-state college tuition, tuition waivers or state-funded grants, scholarships or financial aid. Gives state troopers more power to enforce federal immigration laws. Gives local police the authority to detain undocumented immigrants and transport them across state lines.

Status: Awaits a House committee hearing.

■ HB 1984: Requires any employer convicted of hiring an undocumented worker to repay double the value of any tax credit, loan or tax abatement they received.

Status: Awaits a House committee hearing.

For the full text of the bills, go to .us, click on “Joint Bill Tracking” and type in the bill number.


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To reach Tim Hoover, Jefferson City correspondent, call (573) 634-3565 or send e-mail to thoover@kcstar.com .

Well it's nice to see my home state of Missouri getting serious about immigration.

It would be nice to see Kit Bond, Jim Talent, Roy Blount get off the Globalist Garbage Poverty Wagon and hop on the American Citizens Jobs and Prosperity Wagon.

Any time now, Fellas, would be a good time to flip flop wagons.

And flip-flopping from bad to good and wrong to right is allowed.



GO MIZZOU!!!