Thread: American-Born, But Still 'Alien'?

American-Born, But Still 'Alien'?
A spate of local immigration initiatives expresses concern about leadership failures on a federal level, and about mounting costs borne by the states.

By Ellis Cose
Newsweek

March 19, 2007 issue - When a pregnant woman "waits on the border," as Leo Berman puts it, for her chance to cross illegally to give birth in the United States, she is "committing a crime"— one for which neither she nor her child should be rewarded. Berman, a Texas state representative, feels so strongly about this that he is prepared to relegate U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants to second-class status. "Our most precious benefit is U.S. citizenship," he said in his office in the capitol. "And U.S. citizens should be concerned if we are giving it away 350,000 times a year" to children born to undocumented mothers.

Berman, a Republican, has authored a bill that would compel Texas to deny benefits to children of what he calls "illegal aliens." He knows the bill, which flies in the face of legal precedent, would face immediate challenge. "We want to go into federal court," Berman says. "The mail on this is running 50 to 1 in support." The courts, he believes, would agree with his contention that the 14th Amendment, mandating equal protection, "does not apply to foreigners." Berman has another bill pending that would assess an 8 percent tax on money sent south of the border.

Berman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, fears America is being overrun. And if the Feds won't act, he will. Berman may be extreme, but he's not alone. Across America, state officials and local politicians are insinuating themselves into the immigration debate. In the past several months, multiple cities have passed ordinances targeting undocumented immigrants. The measures, which make it a crime to employ or rent to those here illegally, have been contested in courts by organizations like the ACLU and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which argue that local officials have no role to play in formulating immigration policy.

Barbara Hines, an immigration lawyer and professor at the University of Texas, says the immigration issue has grown "louder, more exacerbated" in recent months. Vanita Gupta, a staff attorney with the ACLU, says there is "a whole new wave of fear and demonization." She points to the decision by the Department of Homeland Security last year to house undocumented families in a converted prison—the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center—in Taylor, Texas.

Last week Hines and Gupta sued over conditions at the facility. They contend that Hutto remains a prison in everything but name. Residents, including children, they say, are kept in tiny cells, denied adequate medical care, forced to wear prison garb and exposed to potentially traumatizing indignities. When she first visited the center, says Hines, "I was shocked. I had never seen children in a prison before."

A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement—the enforcement arm of Homeland Security—read a statement to NEWSWEEK describing Hutto as a modern facility "designed to humanely accommodate families and children," but would not directly address allegations in the lawsuit since the agency does not talk about pending litigation. Last week an ICE-led inquiry resulted in the apprehension of several people connected to a leather-processing plant in New Bedford, Mass., that allegedly hired scores of undocumented workers.

The opening of Hutto, the raid in New Bedford and the initiatives bubbling up from local officials are all signs of a level of anxiety about illegal immigration not seen in years. Behind the proposals from Berman and others is a real concern about the leadership failure at the federal level and about mounting costs borne by the states. At Parkside Hospital in Dallas, for example, a spokesperson said that some 75 percent of total deliveries there were paid for by a Medicaid benefit aimed at women who can't provide proof of citizenship. Royce West, a Texas state senator who is pro-immigrant, has put forth a bill, less onerous than Berman's, that would tax international money transfers. The proceeds would go toward indigent health care.

Last May the Senate passed an immigration bill authored by Ted Kennedy and John McCain, which the House rejected. Kennedy and McCain are likely to offer another bill, perhaps as early as this week, focusing on border enforcement, legalization and a new guest-worker program. Those ideas constitute a natural starting point for an intelligent national discussion on the issue. With Democrats in control of Congress and talk of reform in the air, the House may be more inclined to participate this time. If it doesn't, we may be doomed to see the arena dominated by some local politicians who think that doing something —even something that's probably unconstitutional—makes them better than the do-nothing Feds.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17552883/si ... /?from=rss

children of what he calls "illegal aliens."

We all know Msnbc would NEVER be so insensitive.......never mind that is the correct term, not "paperless" immigrants.

Berman for President '08

Barbara Hines, an immigration lawyer and professor at the University of Texas, says the immigration issue has grown "louder, more exacerbated" in recent months. Vanita Gupta, a staff attorney with the ACLU, says there is "a whole new wave of fear and demonization."

Hot Damn.........sounds like something's working