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Debate on illegal immigration policy to resume in 80th legislature
01/05/2007

Editor's Note: This is another in a series of Reporter-Telegram stories previewing the upcoming 80th Legislature, which is set to begin Tuesday.

A growing sentiment too little has been done to prevent illegal immigration has prompted some state lawmakers to file legislation aimed at stanching the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.

Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, submitted House Bill 28 with the intent of reducing illegal immigration into Texas by removing one of the incentives that encourages illegal border crossings -- government benefits.

Berman's first draft of the bill would have made the children of illegal immigrants born in the United States ineligible to receive any state benefits, including access to public schools and health services. Federal mandates require the state to provide education and health care to residents, and Berman has subsequently eliminated those aspects of the draft legislation.

Berman's revised version of the bill would preclude the children of illegal immigrants, who are currently granted citizenship by the 14th Amendment, from receiving benefits from the state such as food stamps, public housing assistance and unemployment benefits. They also would be unable to receive "a grant, contract, loan, professional license or commercial license provided by an agency of" the state.

Jose Aguila, an associate professor of history at the University of Texas at the Permian Basin, said he believes HB 28 has little chance of passing through the Legislature, but if it does it would be challenged in court almost immediately. Berman told the Reporter-Telegram that is exactly the point of the bill.

"The purpose is to go into the courtroom to show the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to children of illegal aliens," he said, adding the original intent of the amendment was to protect the rights of the children of slaves. "We're just trying to show that the 14th Amendment is being erroneously used to provide automatic citizenship to the children of people committing a crime against the U.S."

Pat Kennedy, West Texas regional director of the anti-illegal immigration organization the Minute Men, said she is supportive of Berman's bill but does not expect it has any realistic chances of passing. Kennedy said the cost of providing state services, such as bilingual education to Spanish-speaking students, is "eating us alive" and the Minutemen plan to advocate for legislation that would reverse that trend.

While HB 28 may have some difficulty meeting the approval of other legislators, another bill drafted by Berman intended to allow the state to recoup some of the costs associated with illegal immigration could have broader support. The proposed legislation, HB 29, would levy a tax on money wired to Mexico and Central America in order to help pay for indigent health care. Berman noted Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has pre-filed a similar bill and said that the bipartisan support should help its chances of passing. Letters from his constituents and throughout the state and country have been coming in at a rate of about 30 to 1 in favor of the bill, Berman said.

He said the impetus for HB 29 is the high concentration of births by illegal immigrants unable to pay their bills at hospitals in Houston and Dallas. When patients cannot furnish the funds for a hospital visit the burden is borne by taxpayers, but Berman said HB 29 would help change that. Citing a report in the Houston Chronicle, Berman said around $5.8 billion is wired to Mexico each year from Texas and the proposed tax would capture $240 million of those funds to pay for indigent health care.

Aguila told the Reporter-Telegram he is skeptical the state would be able to raise anywhere near the amount that supporters of the legislation are anticipating. He said many large banks have developed bi-national bank accounts for customers who travel frequently across the border. Additionally, he said that like fax machines in the age of the Internet, wire services are quickly becoming obsolete.

"I think that law would have been more relevant 16 years ago, it will not provide the amount of money needed to expand indigent care," he said.

Aguila also objected to the scope of the bill being limited to wire transfers to Latin American countries. He acknowledged most of the illegal immigrants coming into the country are from Latin America, but observed that everyone, not just illegal immigrants, would benefit from the money raised.

Aguila said he is supportive of another bill related to immigration -- HB 291, submitted by Rep. Jim Jackson. R-Carrollton, -- that would require contractors to participate in a federal program that would help verify the immigration status of employees. The bill would also preclude cities, counties and state agencies from awarding bids to companies that do not participate in the program.

"That one will almost surely pass, it sounds, in theory, like a good program," he said, but noted there likely will be loopholes permitting industries facing severe labor shortages to continue hiring illegal immigrants. This has been the case historically with policies aimed at curbing immigration that reduce the available labor pool, he said, citing the establishment of the Bracero program as an example.

He said in order for the legislation to work it will require a lot of funding to ensure its effectiveness and assurances by the government to companies that they will not be held accountable if the program fails to identify unauthorized workers. Companies in violation of the bill would be required to pay either $500, or 1 percent of the price of the contract, whichever amount is greater.