http://www.easttexasreview.com/story.htm?StoryID=4092

Immigration policy the focus of debate at TAB conference
by Christine DeLoma / LSR


Is the issue of illegal immigration strictly federal? It depends on whom you talk to.
The Texas Association of Business (TAB) and its spin-off group, Texas Employers for Immigration Reform (TEIRS) are calling for a federal guest worker program that allows illegal immigrants to earn citizenship status.

They’re not the only ones. Gov. Rick Perry Dec. 6 reiterated his support for such a program as well.
“Washington,” said Perry, “needs to seek real solutions that protect our economy, that take migrant workers out of the shadows by giving them an ID and allowing them to cross freely, and that at the same time recognizes the rule of law and the importance of not rewarding those who break our laws.”

The immigration issue is critical to businesses because “we are facing a national and state labor crisis,” said TAB president Bill Hammond at the Dec. 7 immigration conference sponsored by TAB and TEIRS.
Texas businesses are facing increased workplace enforcement of existing immigration laws, he said. “However, the system is failing,” he said, “and it needs to be dramatically overhauled [by] giving employers proper verification tools…Clear, sensible workplace enforcement must be combined with a temporary guest worker program.”

At the conference, Hammond said that Texas lawmakers should take no action on immigration reform until the federal government fixes the system by allowing enough legal immigrants into the country to meet the labor shortage employers are facing in many industries.

A Texas guest worker policy?

Some state lawmakers, nonetheless, believe Texas shouldn’t wait on the federal government to shape future immigration policy. Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) has proposed a Texas guest worker program for the 1.4 million illegal immigrants living in the state. “We have got to deal with them somehow,” Berman said. “If the federal government had done its job, we wouldn’t even be here debating [the issue] today.”

Berman’s proposal would allow employers to register with the state their undocumented workers as permanent, temporary or seasonal employees. After passing a background check and an English fluency test, the illegal immigrants would be able to stay at
their current jobs. Berman said his proposal would require jobless illegals to obtain an individual registration card giving them a year to look for full-time employment. If they cannot find a job they would have to go back home.

Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston), who faced off with Berman in a scheduled debate on illegal immigration, doubted the proposal would pass court muster. “I don’t know how that [doesn’t] fly [with] federal immigration law,” Noriega said. “They’re still here illegally.” Noriega questioned how the state guest worker program would work when most illegal immigrants in his district distrust government and do not want to bring attention to their illegal status.
Berman, who has not filed the bill, said he is working with the Texas Workforce Commission to iron out the details of his proposal.

Penalize illegal immigrants or the businesses that employ them?

The Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute (TCCRI) issued a report last month calling for state lawmakers to end property tax exemptions to businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants and prohibit those businesses from operating in the state for a certain time period.

“We believe it’s unfair to enact this sort of legislation with regard to employers in the state while we have a failed federal system,” Hammond said. “Until or unless the tools are in place
for employers to easily and readily
verify the immigration status of applicants before them, we think it’s unfair and wrong to propose or pass this sort of legislation.”

Berman said he does not support TCCRI’s proposal that would penalize businesses that knowingly employ undocumented workers. I “wouldn’t do anything to hurt the Texas economy” or injure businesses, Berman said.
Last month, Berman has filed HB 28 that challenges birthright citizenship. “House bill 28 challenges the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in awarding free citizenship to the children of illegal aliens in Texas and across the United States,” Berman said. If his bill passes, he expects it to be challenged in court. “All we’re asking is: Are children of illegal aliens born in the United States actually U.S. citizens?”

Originally the bill would have prohibited children - who are U.S. citizens - born to illegal immigrants from receiving public education. However, at the immigration conference, Berman said he is taking that restriction out of the bill because a federal mandate requires Texas to provide education to all children. Berman also, for the same reason, took out a provision that would prohibit U.S. citizens born of illegal immigrants from receiving health care. HB28 would, however, prohibit an infant born of illegal aliens in Texas from receiving other state benefits.
According to press reports, at the Texas Border Coalition’s Dec. 6 meeting, the governor threw cold water on efforts to challenge birthright citizenship or cut off benefits to illegal immigrants, calling them “divisive.”

Noriega, who opposes Berman’s legislation, quoted scripture (Lev. :19:33-34) which reads: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born.”

Noriega sponsored legislation that gave illegal immigrants in-state tuition. “Our valuestells us… that if you work hard, you do your best, you can do anything,” he said. The measure made it affordable for hard working immigrants to attend college, he added. Who should pay the cost of illegal immigration?
Berman’s second bill, HB 29, would impose an 8 percent surcharge on wired money transfers from Texas to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Revenues generated from the tax - about $240 million - would go to pay for uncompensated hospital care and indigent health care, services many illegal aliens use without paying for, Berman said.

Illegal immigrants pay over $7 billion in Social Security taxes, yet the federal government doesn’t reimburse states for the costs associated with them, Noriega said.

“We believe that the Congress should look at addressing the Social Security money that is left behind [by illegal immigrants]…” Hammond said. “Texas’ fair share of that would probably be…between $600 to $700 million.”

Hammond suggested the money be used to
reimburse local governments for the cost of
uncompensated care.