Thread: Indiana (state) senator suggests Arizona-like immig. law

Indiana senator suggests Arizona-like immigration law
Associated Press
May 13, 2010

A state senator says Indiana should consider an immigration policy similar to Arizona's new law that makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, told The Associated Press that he'll introduce some type of immigration legislation in Indiana if Congress and the Obama administration do not act soon on illegal immigration. Delph said he wants to see how the Arizona law plays out before determining the details of his proposal for Indiana.

"We should be watching Arizona, watching how they apply the law," Delph said.

Delph has proposed bills aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration before, but they've never won the approval from the General Assembly, where Republicans control the Senate and Democrats control the House.

About 55,000 to 85,000 illegal immigrants live in Indiana, according to 2006 estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center. Some critics of Delph's previous immigration proposals have said that Indiana's economy needs both legal and illegal immigrant workers to thrive.

The Arizona law, set to take effect July 29, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It directs local police to question individuals already engaged in other possible crimes about their immigration status and request documentation if they suspect a person is in the country illegally.

Critics say the law encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional, and several lawsuits seeking to block its implementation are pending in federal court. Several cities have urged boycotts against Arizona businesses to protest the law.

Arizona's governor has said the boycotts are misguided because the law mirrors a federal requirement that legal immigrants carry immigration papers. Delph said he believes Arizona's law is constitutional and said the boycotts are spurred by ignorance of existing federal law.

But Tony Barreda, chairman of the East Chicago-based Community Coalition for Immigrants, told The Times of Munster that protests would come to Indiana if the state enacted an Arizona-type proposal.

"To do this in Indiana where we're strapped economically, you can bet your life there will be a major movement here as far as boycotting the state itself," Barreda said.

Delph said he hopes to figure out details of his latest immigration proposal before the 2011 legislative session, which begins in January.

He wrote an opinion piece for Indiana newspapers saying both Republican and Democratic federal administrations have refused to enforce immigration laws and Congress has pandered to various ethnic groups.

"Until we have an administration and a Congress willing to take control of this situation, it will be up to the states to exercise the rights granted to them in federal law as Arizona has done," Delph wrote.

http://www.ibj.com/indiana-senator-sugg ... icle/19929

May 17, 2010
Fourth time a charm for our immigration act?
Encouraged by Arizona, Delph might give it another try.

You might want to give state Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, your praise for tilting at windmills or your scorn for beating a dead horse, but either way you have to marvel at the man's persistence. Spurred on at least in part by Arizona's enactment of a “toughâ€

Immigration reform battle heads to Ind.

Updated: Monday, 17 May 2010, 6:20 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 17 May 2010, 6:20 PM EDT

* Jessica Hayes

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - As many as 85,000 illegal immigrants live in Indiana.

Arizona's new law makes it a crime to live in the U.S. illegally, directing police to verify folks legal status.

One Indiana Senator said he'll do the same in the Hoosier state if the White House won't.

But one local family disagrees, saying they've lived through tough U.S. laws to get from Mexico to Terre Haute.

"It took us a long process to get him legal here in the United States," said Patty Pineda of her husband Eduardo.

Patty and Eduardo met when they both worked in Florida's watermelon fields, she from the U.S., he from Mexico.

Now married for over a decade, they said these laws hurt folks who are willing to work hard for a better life.

"If they have families over here, and they're trying to support their families, yes, they should let them over here," Patty said.

Indiana State Senator Mike Delph said federal law already prohibits illegal immigrants. But the law is not enforced, so states need to act on their own.

"What is going on in Arizona is an effort at the state level to deal with what the federal level of government has failed to deal with, which is our porous borders and our broken federal immigration system," Delph said.

And he said claims about racial profiling just don't stand.

"You see people that really don't want the law enforced throwing up their hands and throwing out allegations like racial profiling and things like that to try to intimidate people like myself from trying to do what our constituents want us to do, which is to enforce the rule of law," continued Delph.

Arizona's law is set to take effect July 29, 2010.

Delph plans to outline his proposal before the January 2011 legislative session.

www.wthitv.com

Thank you Senator Delph for at least trying to uphold the immigration laws. Laws that have been on the books for a long time, but up until now everybody seems too corrupt to enforce. Everybody wants their cheap labor at the expense of the rest of our unemployment. I don't blame Senator Delph for not wanting Indiana to be in the same economic condition that California is in. We can't keep our states out of debt by continually handing out free things to people who don't belong here. If they'd like to go back home, wait in line, and come back here legally we wouldn't have nearly as much concern except if Mexico is so bad, why don't some of their people stay there and try to make it a better place to live rather than abandoning it like rats from a sinking ship.