Thread: Immigration bills await Texas lawmakers

http://www.elpasotimes.com:80/breakingnews/ci_4705544

Immigration bills await Texas lawmakers (10:15 a.m.)
By Liz Austin Peterson / Associated Press
El Paso Times
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AUSTIN - Texas lawmakers are poised to pounce on illegal immigrants when they start their next session in January, filing a slew of get-tough bills including one designed to challenge the automatic citizenship of babies born in the United States.
The bill by Republican state Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler would bar the babies of illegal immigrants from receiving state benefits such as food stamps, health care or public housing.

Other proposals would tax money that is wired to Mexico or Central and South America, end a policy that lets undocumented college students qualify for in-state tuition rates, and authorize the state attorney general to sue the federal government to recover money Texas has spent dealing with illegal immigration.

It s a noticeable change from the Legislature s typically less strident approach to illegal immigration. Just five years ago the same legislative body adopted the nation s first policy of charging immigrant students in-state tuition rather than the more expensive international rate.

But months of bitter wrangling over federal immigration reform and the heated campaign season that followed have changed the tone of the debate nationwide.

Since the federal government fails to take even the most elemental and basic steps necessary to enforce immigration laws, the consequences of that are left at Texas doorstep, said Steven Camarota, director of research for the anti-illegal immigration think tank the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates strict immigration laws.

Camarota couldn t think of other states that have considered similar bills. Louisiana s legislature approved a ceremonial resolution in April urging Congress to stop giving the babies automatic citizenship.

Democratic lawmakers and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Latin American Citizens have vowed to fight the measures, saying they re mean-spirited attacks that will prompt widespread discrimination.

With their blood already boiling over the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch s new tough anti-immigration measures including fines for landlords who rent to illegal immigrants the battle could get ugly.

It d be an embarrassment for Texas to pass (Berman s) legislation, said Democratic state Rep. Norma Chavez of El Paso, who chairs the Texas House s border and international affairs committee. She called the measure un-Christian and un-American.

The proposal challenges the concept of birthright citizenship, a long-standing federal policy based on the Constitution s 14th Amendment. The first section of the amendment says: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.

Groups opposed to illegal immigration and some conservatives in Congress say the amendment, drafted with freed slaves in mind, should not apply to the children of undocumented residents.

It s difficult to track the number of births to undocumented immigrants because most hospitals do not ask patients about their citizenship status. Based on 2002 data, Camarota estimated 380,000 a year in the United States and 62,000 a year in Texas. That amounts to one in 10 American births and one in six in Texas.

If the Texas bill becomes law, it inevitably will be challenged in court. Berman said he hopes that case makes its way to the Supreme Court and the justices reinterpret the traditional approach to citizenship.

Attempts to enact a similar federal law have failed.

The Texas bill s future is murky, especially if it is assigned to Chavez s committee. Berman could attach the proposal to another bill as an amendment, but the measure doesn t appear to have enthusiastic support from House Speaker Tom Craddick, who controls the destiny of most state laws.

Historically, the federal government has dealt with immigration, said his spokesman, Chris Cutrone.

Still, Berman said Texas can no longer afford to lure illegal immigrants to give birth on U.S. soil by promising citizenship and access to lucrative public benefits.

It s un-Christian of them to allow the lowest class of people to come in here and usurp all these benefits, he said. It s crazy.
Berman s bill is HB28.
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IMO, it's time for Texans to contact their elected rep., Tom Craddick - House Speaker, & Democratic state Rep. Norma Chavez of El Paso.
Good luck.

sorry MAG
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