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Immigration battle comes to Tri-State
Posted: Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 - 02:26:40 am EDT
By TRAVIS NEFF




Staff writer

EVANSVILLE-The national debate over immigration policy and reform will be the topic of a U.S. House Judiciary Committee field hearing at 10 a.m. today at the Evansville Centre.

U.S. Reps. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) will host the proceedings, the fourth of a series of five, which have been convened in home districts of representatives up for reelection this November.

Last week, Hostettler was in Concord, N.H. at a similar proceeding, addressing what organizers of the hearings are calling the “Reid-Kennedy” Bill.

Sensenbrenner is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and is being challenged by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor and long-time democratic political insider Bryan L. Kennedy.

The two Republicans have invited U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, to attend the field hearing, said Sensenbrenner.

Members of the public will not be allowed to address the congressmen, as the proceedings will be run as a formal U.S. House hearing. Witnesses will offer testimony about the Senate bill passed this year, which Hostettler described as granting undocumented workers “amnesty.”





Professor Paul Harrington from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, Steven Camarota from the Center for Immigration Studies and Vernon Briggs from Cornell University will speak against the Senate bill, commonly referred to as the Kennedy-McCain Bill.

Camarota has written an essay which claims that in 2002, illegal immigrants cost taxpayers $26.3 million, but only paid $16 million in taxes.

Sensenbrenner said Ricardo Parra, from the Midwest Council of La Raza is expected to speak in favor of the Senate's immigration bill.

Hostettler said he believes immigration is a top concern among voters in Indiana.

“I'd say when I am out speaking with constituents, 80 percent of the questions I receive from people concern this issue,” said Hostettler.

In response to the Evansville hearing, the Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Indiana (JICI) is planning to host a meeting of immigrant rights supporters Tuesday at the Hispanic Center in Evansville, just across the street from where the Congressional proceedings will take place.

In a press release, the JICI claims that House Bill 4437, supported by both Hostettler and Sensenbrenner, would make criminals out of many who support immigrant rights and employ undocumented aliens.

“We are calling all those who support human rights to come to Evansville to protest this hearing,” said Luis Evia, director of the Evansville Hispanic Center. “The Hispanic community of Evansville does not agree with HR 4437. We are hardworking people, who contribute to the economy of this state, not criminals.”

HR 4437 would focus on tightening the U.S.-Mexican border, as does the Senate bill, but differs on what should happen to illegal aliens presently in the U.S.

The House bill would create strict penalties for businesses which hire illegal immigrants. It would enforce Social Security checks for new employees and would call for all current employees to undergo Social Security checks to discover illegal immigrants.

Evia said the House bill is unenforceable and will not fix the problem.

“It simply will not work and those who support it are fooling the American public,” he said.

The JICI said placing such a proceeding in Evansville, far from the border states, is a politically motivated move in a tightly contested race.

During a press conference Monday, Brad Ellsworth, Hostettler's Democratic opponent for the Indiana 8th District Congressional seat, said although he supports HR 4437, he also sees a local hearing on the issue as political strategy by Hostettler.

“I think this seems to be purely political,” said Ellsworth. “Instead of them informing us about the problem which we already know about, I think it's time they go back to (Washington) D.C. and get some work done.”

Ellsworth said he would support the House version of the bill, which does not grant citizen status to illegal aliens already in the country. But he said he believed Hostettler should focus more on enforcing current immigration laws, instead of politicking in the district.

“This is too serious a problem to just try and get votes,” he said. “I believe Hoosiers can already see this problem clearly and they are just here preaching to us.”

Ellsworth said he will not attend the hearing.

Tennyson resident Fidel Ramirez, formerly of Arizona, said he is troubled by illegal immigration and came to the press conference to hear what Hostettler has to say.

“I am a Vietnam veteran, and I am not against the war (in Iraq) but it seems to me Bush and the other politicians are worried about protecting other peoples' borders and not our own,” Ramirez said. “It's sad how most people show apathy and want to stick their heads in the sand.”