http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincitie ... 371922.htm


Posted on Fri, Dec. 09, 2005
Get-tough proposals for illegal immigrants on tap

MARTIGA LOHN

Associated Press


ST. PAUL - Politicians are talking about beefing up penalties for illegal immigrants who commit crimes, stepping up status checks for those who use public services and other get-tough moves, as Gov. Tim Pawlenty makes illegal immigration a policy focus.

Between 80,000 and 85,000 people from other countries live illegally in Minnesota, costing the state as much as $188 million a year, mostly for education, according to a Department of Administration report released Thursday.

Illegal immigrants provide the cheap labor that powers several major industries, including hospitality, construction, agriculture and meat processing.

In 2002, Pawlenty campaigned on a plan to clearly mark immigrants' visa status on their drivers licenses - a move that took full effect, after a legal challenge, in early 2003. Now, the Republican governor is preparing to push lawmakers to tighten up on illegal immigrants.

Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung wouldn't provide details, although Pawlenty mentioned the need for stricter controls on identification for immigrants during his weekly radio show Friday.

"This is not about political correctness. It's not about being anti-immigration. It's about having a country where we can have reasonable limits," Pawlenty said on the show.

Critics say the focus on illegal immigration glosses over the contributions those immigrants make to society and risks inflaming racist tendencies. At worst, they say it's a bald political move designed to energize Pawlenty's conservative base for the upcoming election year.

"The Republicans are running scared. They have to get the attention off what their policies are," said Claudia Fuentes, former director of Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research, a community research group. "They're totally missing the full picture."

Fuentes said illegal immigrants contribute more than they take through payroll taxes and Social Security contributions they'll never collect. Many enlist in the U.S. military and serve overseas, she said.

Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, the Legislature's only Hispanic, said crackdowns on illegal immigrants could rip families apart. In some couples, one spouse is in the country legally and the other isn't, he said. Sometimes the children are legal and the parents aren't.

"Disentangling undocumented people from the rest of us is an impossibility, until the federal government finds a way to get rid of all undocumented folks and prevent anyone from ever coming into the country who is undocumented," Mariani said. "You create an agenda that divides Minnesotans, as opposed to one that unites Minnesotans."

The governor has held community meetings on illegal immigration in Worthington and Rochester and plans to have more meetings around the state in the coming months.

In Worthington, where immigrants make up almost a third of the population, Mayor Alan Oberloh said problems with illegal immigrants prompted him to invite a number of elected officials to town. U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, will visit Saturday. (Dayton was at a conference in Minneapolis Friday and unavailable for comment, deputy press secretary Colleen Murray said.)

Oberloh said the city's police department has had problems with illegal aliens who are convicted of crimes and deported - only to return, sometimes within a week or two. He wants to make it a felony to come back to the state after being deported for a criminal offense.

"It's just a revolving door type of thing," Oberloh said. "Right now, there is no consequence because all you do is send them home."

Rep. Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, is interested in checking the status of immigrants who apply for government benefits to make sure they're in the country legally.

Finstad - who made headlines last year for trying to make immigrants learn English faster to qualify for public aid - said he and his Republican colleagues are considering several ideas for legislation.

He would like to make a state law out of the Pawlenty administration's requirement for drivers licenses to show visa status for immigrants, which would make it harder to roll back in the future.

"What this does is maybe justifies a little bit more some of the problems or issues of illegal immigration that we face in this state," Finstad said. "The taxpayers deserve some accountability and some answers."