Thread: Emotional debate on immigration underway in Indiana House

Emotional debate on immigration underway in Indiana House

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - There’s an emotional debate underway right now in the Indiana House of Representatives over immigration.

The immigration bill before the legislature is aimed at employers who hire illegal immigrants, but republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives want to also target the illegal immigrants.

The Republicans attempted a rare procedural move to force a vote on their immigration ideas but Democrats used their majority to prevent that vote. But, not before the Republicans spelled out punishment they want directed at illegal aliens.

“Like no benefits for illegal immigrants. No in-state tuition for illegal immigrants,â€

Tensions flare in House over immigration

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House went into partisan meltdown Thursday night over legislation aimed at curbing illegal immigration, with Republicans walking off the floor in protest of procedural moves by majority House Democrats.

Republicans accused Democrats of using a sneaky maneuver to prevent them from offering changes to legislation that could penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants. Republicans left the floor around 6:30 p.m., and Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer declared around 8 p.m. that the chamber was in recess until Monday.

He said the House would start that day where it left off - debating the immigration legislation - and no further amendments besides one they had offered would be considered. He said if Republicans continued to boycott the floor, the impasse would threaten passage of other legislation, including proposed constitutional caps on property tax bills.

Next week is the deadline for House bills to clear the Senate and vice versa.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he considered Monday to be a new legislative day and that meant his caucus could file amendments seeking changes to the House version of the immigration legislation.

Some Republicans said the House Democrat version of the immigration bill was too weak on tackling illegal immigration. Some wanted to offer changes that among other things would prohibit the state or local governments from providing public assistance to illegal immigrants.

That would include help in obtaining employment, housing, higher education or other types of financial assistance. There would be some exceptions, such as help getting emergency medical care or providing short-term disaster relief.

But Republicans said Democrats used a sneaky maneuver that skirted House rules to thwart their chances of amending the bill.

Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, suggested that Republicans wanted to make changes for partisan political reasons, and Democrats wanted to keep the issue based on sound public policy.

To prevent votes on any changes, Democrats took language that had been approved in a bill before one of their committees and filed it as an amendment to another bill. They did that four minutes before a deadline to file amendments on bills up for consideration Thursday.

Republicans said the new home Democrats were trying to use for their version of illegal immigration reform had nothing to do with the issue, so they never would have considered filing their own amendments on that bill Thursday.

When Democrats called down the bill they wanted to amend with their illegal immigration language, Republicans accused Democrats of blatantly breaking House rules. Bosma asked that any votes on illegal immigration legislation wait until Monday.

He said that would open a new time frame for offering amendments, but Bauer disagrees.
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Legislators walk out over immigration bill
THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
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House Republicans staged a Statehouse walkout Thursday night to protest an effort by Democrats to prevent changes to an illegal-immigration bill.

The GOP boycott began shortly after 8 p.m. when Republicans refused to return to the House chamber after meeting behind closed doors on the issue for more than two hours.

The feuding centered on Senate Bill 335, which would punish employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

The House Public Policy Committee approved the bill Monday after amending the legislation, authored by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel.

Some Republicans said Thursday they wanted to further amend and strengthen the bill by including provisions that would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving state financial assistance for employment, college tuition and housing.

They did not, however, get that opportunity when House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, decided not to call the bill's committee reports by Thursday's deadline, thus killing SB 335. Instead, Democrats started to amend the language of Delph's legislation into a separate piece of legislation, SB 345.

Republicans stalled that effort when they walked out. They argued that they hadn't been given a fair chance to prepare for the switch and propose changes to the second bill.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, strongly objected to Bauer's decision, saying he broke the chamber's rules by not allowing GOP amendments. He accused Bauer of trying to kill the legislation, adding that his interpretation of the rules was "absolutely absurd."

"This is a cheap shot," Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, said of Bauer's decision. "There's times I'm ashamed to be a part of this body, and this is one of them."

Bosma said Republicans walked out so the matter could be delayed until Monday, when he said House rules would allow the GOP to offer amendments.

Bauer, however, placed the House in recess instead of adjourning after the Republicans refused to return to the chamber. Doing so, he said, would not allow Republicans to offer changes Monday.

Bauer accused Republicans of trying to push racist provisions. "We don't need a hate debate on this floor," he said.

Bauer said he acted within the rules of the House and said Republicans weren't trying to improve the immigration proposal, but instead "blow up" the bill.

"We didn't car-bomb anything," Bosma replied, noting that the proposal is still alive.
Republicans also denied their amendments were racist.

Delph said he was disappointed that politics in the House stalled his proposal and urged Republicans in that chamber not to expand the discussion on his bill from punishing employers to withholding benefits from illegal immigrants.

"They were trying to get other issues injected into this debate, and I didn't think that was appropriate," Delph said.

House boycotts are unusual, but not unprecedented. The last happened in 2005, when Democrats killed 130 bills in protest over proposals that required voters to show ID at the polls and created an inspector general for the governor.

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Immigration bill down, maybe not out
February 24, 2008


Mike Delph has not made very many friends at the Statehouse this year.
As the Carmel Republican senator has pushed his illegal immigration bill through the Senate and House, he has faced the wrath of many -- including some in his own party.
When Delph's immigration bill fizzled Thursday night, it wasn't the Democrats, or House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, driving it into the ground.
It was the Republicans, who offered up several amendments that took Delph's bill in an entirely new direction -- away from cracking down on employers that hire illegal immigrants and toward denying certain social benefits to illegal immigrants.
Delph was not a happy camper on Friday. He said he has bent over backward to build a political coalition and to keep the bill focused on employers, not on withholding benefits. The GOP amendments were sure-fire bill killers.
"In order to get something done, we had to be mindful of the political realities," said Delph. "And they knew the House Democrats were very uncomfortable with the benefits issue.
"I agree with some of their policy objectives, but I disagree with the methods they used. I think they went for the whole loaf instead of the half loaf, which we were getting."
The issue is not dead. Attempts will be made this week to restore elements of the bill to legislation that is still alive. But nobody knows the outcome, or how strong the language will be.
Delph said the real losers will be the voters.
"I am very disappointed that politics overshadowed the will of the people. They want a solution, a real solution to the problem of illegal immigration. But it's not over until the gavel comes down."

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