Thread: Immigration package unveiled

Immigration package unveiled
House Democrats take crack at issue
Friday, March 07, 2008
By BRIAN LYMAN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY -- Now that state Senate Republicans have put an illegal immigration package forward, it is House Democrats' turn.

The majority party in the House on Thursday unveiled a package to limit illegal immigration by penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants and criminalizing the transport of undocumented workers into the state.

"Illegal immigration is taking jobs away from Alabamians," said House Majority Leader Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill. "It's a growing problem in the state."

The Democrats' package features four bills, including:

Legislation by state Rep. James Fields, D-Cullman, requiring jailers to determine the citizenship status of those brought in on drunken driving charges;

A bill by state Rep. Lea Fite, D-Jacksonville, prohibiting municipalities from declaring themselves sanctuary cities, protecting undocumented people within their borders from deportation;

Legislation by state Rep. Locy Baker, D-Abbeville, making the transport of undocumented workers a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine;

A bill by Randy Hinshaw, D-Meridianville, giving the Department of Revenue the right to revoke the business licenses of companies employing illegal immigrants.

State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, has similar legislation pending in the upper chamber, making the transport of illegal immigrants a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. It also incorporates Fields' bill.

Beason, who chaired the Joint Interim Patriotic Immigration Commission, would also require everyone working in Alabama to carry identification, and would provide fines for those who hire undocumented workers.

Hinshaw, vice chairman of the Joint Patriotic Immigration Commission, said Democrats believe parts of Beason's bill might be struck down in court.

"We want to do something that has a chance of passage and has a strong chance of being upheld in court," he said.

Beason said Thursday that the only part of his bill that may face a challenge is the identification card, which he could replace with another form of verification.

But, he added, the rest of the bill is drawn from legislation that has withstood court challenges around the country.

He said he is simply looking for solutions to the problem of illegal immigration.

"If (the Democrats') bills do that, I support them," Beason said. "This is a red, white and blue issue, not a Republican or Democratic issue."

Democrats said their package is based on legislation passed in Arizona that provides punishments of probation to 10-day suspensions of business licenses to companies hiring illegal immigrants. Second offenses lead to revocation of licenses.

Beason has said his bill is based on legislation passed in Oklahoma.

Both bills have been credited with causing thousands of immigrants to leave Arizona and Oklahoma.

Shay Farley -- an attorney with Montgomery-based Alabama Appleseed, which works on immigration issues -- said her group has concerns about language in the Democratic proposal that would allow employees of cities to ask about their colleagues' immigration status.

However, Farley said that overall the Democratic package is better than other reform measures that she has seen.

"After reading the four bills, I think the language is a lot clearer, and lot more legally acceptable than previous bills I've read," she said.





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Isn't that Jeff Sessions state. You go Alabama