Beebe's Stance on Illegal Immigration Measure Has Holes

When Governor Beebe (D - AR) came out against a measure to limit state services for illegal immigrants, saying it largely duplicates laws already on the books, he was only partly correct.

-Arkansas' two largest colleges offer in-state tuition rates regardless of a student's immigration status; that would disappear under the proposed constitutional amendment.

-While hospitals are generally required to provide emergency care to all, the Arkansas Department of Health offers additional services beyond critical care without checking a patient's papers; that, too, would disappear.

-And recipients of state benefits programs are not checked against a federal immigration database before taking government aid; that, too, would change if voters pass a ballot measure put forth by a group called Secure Arkansas.

Secure Arkansas plans to use only volunteer signature gatherers to collect 61,974 valid signatures needed by July 7th. The group began collecting signatures in earnest Tuesday as voters went to the polls for the state's primary election. Beebe's office released the governor's statement the previous afternoon.
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