http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2007/01 ... news04.txt

Bill Targets Illegal Immigration
Monday, January 8, 2007 8:33 AM CST
By Pablo Bello
The Morning News • pbello@waonline.net

Lawmakers have filed few bills regarding illegal immigration despite the issue’s high profile during the 2006 general election.

Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren, has proposed a bill to ban state agencies from contracting with businesses employing illegal immigrants.

Green, however, said he doesn’t have any specific examples or evidence of government contractors or subcontractors hiring illegal immigrants.

The bill would require prospective contractors for the state to certify they do not employ or subcontract with illegal immigrants.

Contractors also would be required to participate in a federal pilot program allowing employers access to government databases to verify employment eligibility.

Green said the bill is similar to laws already in effect in Colorado and Pennsylvania.

He said constituents in his district have been asking him to do something about illegal immigration.

He thinks illegal immigration is a federal problem,

but the state has the ability

to make sure employers

who do business with the state verify they do not employ

or contract illegal immigrants.

Manny Gomez, spokesman of the northwest Arkansas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the bill would affect contractors more than illegal immigrants.

“There is a federal law already in effect that tackles that issue and federal authorities have not been able to enforce it,” he said.

“Contractors don’t have the resources to verify who has legal documents and who doesn’t.”

Alejandro Aviles of Fayetteville, outreach coordinator for Legal Aid of Arkansas, said he will oppose any legislation on illegal immigration because he is in favor of a comprehensive immigration reform plan from Congress.

“Any law against or in favor of illegal immigrants is just a bandage to the serious problem of illegal immigration,” he said.

As of last week, no lawmaker has announced whether there will be another attempt to pass a measure such as House Bill 1525 of 2005 to allow illegal immigrants to receive state university scholarships.

However, the conservative Arkansas Family Council has announced it would oppose any such measure.

The bill was one of the biggest immigration-related issues of the 2005 session, backed by Gov. Mike Huckabee. It passed the House but failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote because it could not get through the Senate Education Committee.

In 2006, 570 pieces of legislation concerning immigrants were introduced in state legislatures around the country. At least 90 bills and resolutions passed legislatures in 2006. Eighty-four bills were signed into law, more than double the amount in 2005. Six bills were vetoed.

While legislation covered a wide variety of topics, many states focused on education, employment, identification and driver’s licenses, law enforcement, legal services, public benefits, trafficking and voting procedures.

Bills were enacted in 32 states. A Colorado bill similar to Green’s proposal prohibits state agencies from entering into contract agreements with contractors who knowingly employ illegal immigrants and requires prospective contractors to verify legal work status of all employees.

The contractor must confirm that the federal Basic Pilot Program has been used to verify the status of all employees. If the contractor discovers that an illegal immigrant is employed, the contractor must alert the state agency within three days.

State Sen. Jim Holt, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor last year, made illegal immigration a top issue in his campaign.

His proposed legislation in the last legislative session to require proof of citizenship to receive public benefits. The bill also would have made it a crime for state employees to fail to report immigration violations.

The bill never made it out of committee in part because of vocal opposition by Huckabee.

Arkansas News Bureau reporter Doug Thompson contributed to this report.