Thread: CA: Anti-illegal immigration bills proposed

REGIONAL: Anti-illegal immigration bills proposed
By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
Local GOP lawmakers among sponsors of crackdown legislation
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 12:49 AM PDT ∞
37 comment(s)

A package of bills designed to crack down on California's estimated 3 million illegal immigrants will be unveiled by Republican lawmakers in Sacramento today.

Two North County representatives are among the sponsors of the bills, which cover a wide range of topics, including elimination of in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrant students at state colleges and universities, requiring proof of legal status to receive state benefits, and barring companies that hire illegal immigrants from receiving state contracts.

An immigrant rights advocate called the bills divisive.

Similar bills have been introduced in recent years without much success. The lawmakers who sponsored the 20-bill package said in a news release Monday that their proposals aim to eliminate enticements that attract illegal immigrants to the state.

Included in the package is Assembly Bill 1882, sponsored by Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad. His bill would require police to contact immigration authorities when a person suspected of being an illegal immigrant is arrested for driving under the influence.

Garrick said he believes the package offers "common sense" ideas to address illegal immigration.

"I am encouraged that reason will prevail," he said.

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Oceanside, sponsored Assembly Bill 2102, which would require state agencies to check all new employees' work eligibility through a federal electronic database called E-Verify.

Walters said the news conference that is scheduled to take place in Sacramento today is designed in part to put pressure on Democrats to take illegal immigration more seriously. She said the state's illegal immigrants cost taxpayers an estimated $9 billion each year.

"We are truly in a crisis," Walters said.

While some analysts say illegal immigrants are a huge burden on taxpayers, others say they contribute much to the state and the nation's economy.

Pedro Rios, director of the San Diego office of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker human rights organization, said he was troubled by the proposals. Dealing with immigration policy is a federal responsibility, he said.

"This is an attempt to bring the immigration debate to the state level, as they've done in Arizona and other parts of the country, and it doesn't belong there," Rios said. "It only creates more division and tension."

Rios said he does not see much chance of these bills passing through the Legislature due to the Democrats' large majority in the Assembly, 48 to 32. He added that Republicans may be "testing the waters to see how far they can go."

Among the other bills are:

Assembly Bill 39 would require the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to tally the cost of jailing illegal immigrant inmates each year and bill the federal government

Assembly Bill 1928 would require local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities when they arrest suspected illegal immigrants

Assembly Bill 2420 would prohibit cities from declaring themselves "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants and not allowing their police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities

Assembly Bill 648 would add 10 years to the sentence of anyone convicted of a felony who has a previous felony conviction in California for which they were deported

Assembly Bill 2812 would allow the governor to cite illegal immigration as a cause to declare a local or state emergency
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03 ... _24_08.txt

Rios said he does not see much chance of these bills passing through the Legislature due to the Democrats' large majority in the Assembly, 48 to 32. He added that Republicans may be "testing the waters to see how far they can go."

Once again the main obstacle appears to be the illegal alien supporting liberals!

It will never pass. My state is doomed. No light at the end of the tunnel.

Originally Posted by alleycat

It will never pass. My state is doomed. No light at the end of the tunnel.

But it’s good to see them trying to address the problem. It may be reject this time and many will become angered. More will speak up for enforcement the next time.

it's not doomed. We just need to all work to put the reasonable arguments in front of everybody and californians eventually will have had enough of their own apathy and vote their pandering politicians out of office and vote in the right leaders for their state and our country. It's hurting in right places now. With illegals costing $9bn a year, this situation is unsustainable.

The Democrats are the problem! I never saw such a bunch of Socialist ***kissers!

Dealing with immigration policy is a federal responsibility, he said.

And here's the classic OBL dodge. Notice how when the feds finally try to do something (e.g., SAVE), the open border hacks still whine.

A package of bills designed to crack down on California's estimated 3 million illegal immigrants will be unveiled by Republican lawmakers in Sacramento today.

3 MILLION? IMO, THERE ARE MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS THAN THAT IN CALIFORNIA.

Assembly Republicans highlight illegal immigration bills
March 25th, 2008 · Post a Comment · posted by bjoseph

From our Sacramento bureau:

About a dozen Assembly Republicans this morning held a press conference highlighting 23 of their bills to combat illegal immigration, or in their parlance, tighten “border security.â€

Only 3 million illegals in California? That's a way low figure listed by the press. Sort of like the Feds saying there are 12 million illegals in the entire country. Yeah, right. Here's some more reliable numbers: CAPS (Californian's for Population Stabilization) released a study in the 4th quarter of 2007 that stated there are 20 to 38 million illegals in America. A very conservative estimate is that California has 25% of the illegals in the U.S. (it could be as high as 50%). So, taking the most conservative numbers, there are at least 5 million illegal aliens in California (with possibly as many as 19 million).