Bill would allow officials to ask citizenship status
Brady Bautch, RiverTown Newspaper Group
Published Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Municipal and county governments won't be able to prevent employees from asking about the immigration status of individuals receiving public funds under a bill (SB309) being pushed through the state Legislature.

According to the office of Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, the bill is in response to a directive by Kathleen Falk, Dane County executive, which prohibits county workers asking about an individual's citizenship status when that person is applying for public aid.

"This makes Dane County a magnet for illegal immigrants, at least illegal immigrants who want to go on welfare," said Grothman, the primary sponsor of the bill.

He added that not asking citizenship status would make the entire state a welfare magnet.

It's also in response to efforts by Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group from Milwaukee and Racine.

This group has been asking local police departments in southeastern Wisconsin to not ask about an individual's citizenship status during unrelated investigations.

"There is a concern that both Milwaukee and Racine may be going that way," Grothman said.

He said the bill is not anti-immigrant and that he supports immigrants who come here legally. But the message being sent by the bill is that laws have meaning.

Grothman said that there are two ways to immigrate into the country. File the right forms and wait your turn, or break the law and come here illegally.

"When a local government official says to illegal immigrants there is no need to obey a law, that sends a message," Grothman said. "It encourages people not to obey the law."

The bill would allow officials to go directly to the courts if county or local government officials ignored the law, and they wouldn't have to wait for the state attorney general to file a suit.

The bill would have to pass through the Democratic-controlled Senate, which has previously endorsed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at state-funded colleges.

"We'll try to give them (legislators) a chance to have a vote on this and to go on record," Grothman said.

"If they don't pass it they'll have some explaining to do next election," he added.

Brady Bautch is the Internet Publisher for the RiverTown Newspaper Group. He can be contacted at internet@rivertowns.net
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