Thread: Lawmaker says Texas should create its own guest worker progr

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/16188693.htm

Lawmaker says Texas should create its own guest worker program

LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press
Posted on Thu, Dec. 07, 2006

AUSTIN - Illegal immigrants would be allowed to live and work in Texas as long as they had a full-time job or met other requirements under a state guest worker proposal outlined Thursday by a lawmaker who made national headlines by seeking to deny welfare benefits to the American-born babies of undocumented parents.

State Rep. Leo Berman said his plan would require employers to take their undocumented workers to a registration center to get a temporary work permit. Workers who passed a background check and an English fluency test would receive a permanent card allowing them to stay in Texas as long as they have a full-time job that pays more than the minimum wage.

"We have 1.4 million illegal aliens in Texas, we've got to deal with them somehow," Berman said Thursday at an immigration reform summit sponsored by the Texas Association of Business, an influential lobby group.

A report released Thursday by Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said undocumented immigrants added billions of dollars to the state's economy during the last fiscal year and paid more than enough taxes and fees to offset the cost of state services they received.

But local governments spent nearly $930 million more to provide health care to illegal immigrants and incarcerate them than they took in through local taxes, the report said.

Berman has filed two bills aimed at snuffing out illegal immigration in Texas. One would tax money that is wired to Mexico or Central and South America. The other is designed to challenge the prevailing interpretation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to babies born in the United States.

The Republican from Tyler said he is still working on his guest worker plan but envisions four registration categories: full-time workers, migrant workers, students and the unemployed.

Seasonal workers who come to Texas to harvest crops could get a registration card valid for a short time, Berman said. People without jobs would have one year to find full-time work before they would have to leave the country.

The Texas Association of Business has been a staunch advocate of a federal guest worker program. A bill passed by the Senate in May included provisions for a program, but no immigration compromise has been reached between the two chambers of Congress.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry told a group of mayors and other public officials from the Texas-Mexico border that the United States needs a guest worker program that "takes these workers off the black market and that legitimizes their economic contributions without doing the same for their citizenship."

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Thursday that such a program would have to come from the federal government.

Berman said he is still trying to determine whether enrolling in a state guest worker program would give illegal immigrants any protection from federal immigration laws. He said he hopes to work out those details so he can file the bill during the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Estimates of the impact of illegal immigration on the Texas economy have varied widely.

Strayhorn's report said the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas added $17.7 billion to the gross state product and produced $1.58 billion in state revenues by paying taxes and fees and playing the lottery. They received $1.16 billion in state services.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports tougher border security and an end to illegal immigration, estimated illegal immigration cost Texas $3.7 billion a year. The conservative Lone Star Foundation came up with a similar number in a June report.

In her report, Strayhorn said her estimates differed from the federation's for several reasons, including because she did not count the cost of educating the American-born children of undocumented parents.

Calculating the impact of illegal immigrants is "at best an educated guess," she said in the report.

"It is difficult to count a population that does not want to be counted," she added.

Strayhorn issued the report one month after she lost her independent bid for governor. During the campaign, and in the years leading up to it, she was accused of manipulating state data to make Perry look bad.

Berman said he would trust the Lone Star Foundation's estimate over Strayhorn's.

"The last three years while the comptroller's been politicizing the whole thing we haven't gotten any good numbers from the comptroller so I don't know whether to trust this one or not to be perfectly honest with you," he said.

Still, Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond said Strayhorn's findings support his group's assertion that immigrants are an essential part of the state's economy.

"If somehow these people were to be bused back home tomorrow our economy would shrink by some 17 billion dollars and that's bad news for every Texan and every business in the state."

We've got the workers here to support our economy. The problem is, the government won't accept the fact that the only way to fix it's socialist welfare program is to get rid of it. That way, those legal citizens that are abusing will have to get jobs, most likely those filled by illegals right now.

These businesses don't realize that when these illegals used in their slave labor camps become legal, they will not want to be treated like an illegal anymore. They will want to be paid like an american citizen, because they will be, and they will want benefits. Do we really think the companies will do those things? Of course not. They will await the new rush of illegals waiting in the wings. In the end, not only does a Guest Worker (Amnesty) Program not work for you or I, it does not work for big business or for the illegals. Plus, just as all other Guest Worker Programs introduced, Mr. Berman has not presented a way to enforce it. We have one now that is not enforced. What about the next generation of illegals? How will you stop them?

Yet another bandaid!!!

You've got to be kidding me, now Texas wants to become a sanctuary state? What in the hell is wrong with my state of birth!

With this news out watch the border crossings at Texas increase!

Illegal immigrants would be allowed to live and work in Texas

What's new

Texas State Representative Leo Berman, another politician who supports an amnesty program for illegal alien workers.

Please, someone, anyone, tell me this will never fly!

This would almost be funny if we weren't drowning in a sea of illegal immigrants. Cities and towns throughout America are refusing to do anything about the illegal immigrants because they say it's the federal governments responsibility. Now Texas is stepping in and saying they want to basically give all illegals sanctuary in the state because the federal government isn't doing it's job. Correct me if I'm missing the boat here, but isn't Texas saying the federal government should be allowing the United States to provide sanctuary to the 12-30 million illegal immigrants currently residing int he U.S.?

How can Texas override our federal immigration laws? The cities and towns that are approving ordinances that discourage illegal immigrants from residing in their communities are only enforcing federal law, but Texas on the other hand is going against federal law. I just don't see how Texas can legally do this, but than again - I guess some individual cities are indirectly doing the same thing. If Texas pushes this, I forsee a lawsuit in their future.

Okay, I can understand why some American citizens living on the border would go for this, but what about the rest of the citizens in Texas? They should be screaming their collective heads off over this issue.

Originally Posted by jean

With this news out watch the border crossings at Texas increase!

I feel sick to my stomach.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Politicalactivist

Texas State Representative Leo Berman, another politician who supports an amnesty program for illegal alien workers.

NO I don't think so! He's the guy that submitted the bill to stop Anchor Babies and Perry has been critisizing him.

There are several politicians in the TX Legislature that sound like Berman. There is another Dem. Rep. named Lon Burnam and I think a Senator with a similar name. There are about three of them so be careful because you may have mixed them up.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Skippy

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/16188693.htm

Lawmaker says Texas should create its own guest worker program

LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press
Posted on Thu, Dec. 07, 2006

AUSTIN - Illegal immigrants would be allowed to live and work in Texas as long as they had a full-time job or met other requirements under a state guest worker proposal outlined Thursday by a lawmaker who made national headlines by seeking to deny welfare benefits to the American-born babies of undocumented parents.

State Rep. Leo Berman said his plan would require employers to take their undocumented workers to a registration center to get a temporary work permit. Workers who passed a background check and an English fluency test would receive a permanent card allowing them to stay in Texas as long as they have a full-time job that pays more than the minimum wage.