Thread: Legislators' bill to target people in Texas illegally

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Legislators' bill to target people in Texas illegally
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched:11/19/2006 12:00:00 AM MST


AUSTIN - Texas legislators are steeling themselves for a bitter showdown over immigration when the session begins next year.
Last week, legislators filed a dozen bills that would restrict access to education, health care and employment benefits for undocumented immigrants and even their U.S.-born children. The bills were filed during the first week lawmakers could submit proposals, and many more are expected to target undocumented immigrants in the coming months as the 2007 Legislature gets under way in January.

Proponents of cracking down say undocumented immigrants flout state and federal laws; flood local hospitals, state prisons and schools; take advantage of services for which they pay no taxes; and cost the state billions.

Critics argue that the proposed measures are rooted in racism and fear and that those in the United States illegally contribute more to the economy than they take. They say Texas should take a less draconian approach to fighting illegal immigration.

Both sides are readying for a vitriolic


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battle.
"It is unChristian, it is unAmerican and any religious order would be against legislation that is so hateful," said state Rep. Norma Chávez, D-El Paso, a member of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

Illegal immigration has "got to stop somewhere and all these elected officials take the same oath of office I do to protect the laws and constitution of the state of Texas," said state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. "What other laws are you going to overlook?"

Eliminating "incentives"

Berman aims to eliminate what he sees as the biggest incentive for immigrants to come to the United States illegally - to have babies who automatically become citizens.

"That is the most lucrative benefit that attracts illegals," he said.

His bill, the most far-reaching proposal so far, would prohibit U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants from receiving state services currently available to all citizens.

Under Berman's proposal, these citizens would be excluded from public education, health care, disability assistance, unemployment payments, welfare and food stamps. The bill would even make them ineligible for state employment when they become adults.

He added that he plans to remove the prohibitions on public education and health care in his proposal because the federal government requires the state to provide those services.

But anything more, he said, should be off limits to legal U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants.

"It's going to deny those benefits, and we know it's going to go into court and that's the purpose of the bill," he said.

Berman said he hopes a case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court and that judges will issue a new ruling on the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to children born in the U.S.

The court last addressed that constitutional provision in 1969, Berman said, and with more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country today, more restrictions are due.

Berman filed another bill that would impose an 8 percent fee on money sent to Mexico and Central and South American countries. Revenue from the fee would be used to offset costs Texas hospitals incur for the care of undocumented immigrants.

"We're just trying to get them to pay for the emergency room care they use frequently," he said.

A provision in the bill would allow legal U.S. residents who send money to those countries to recoup the fee. But getting a refund would require filling out a form and sending it along with two documents proving legal residency status to the Texas Comptroller.

Several legislators filed proposals that would prevent undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at public universities.

Current law allows undocumented immigrants who attended Texas high schools and claim to be in the process of obtaining citizenship to pay lower in-state tuition rates.

"To give them benefits gives an incentive for them to be here illegally," said state Rep. Jim Jackson, R-Carrollton, who filed one of the tuition bills. "And that is not preserving, protecting and defending the laws of the United States."

The dozen or so anti-

undocumented immigrant bills that have been filed so far are likely just a preview of more to come, Jackson said.

His district includes Farmers Branch, where the city council recently approved ordinances that prevent undocumented immigrants from renting homes, make English the official language and allow police to get federal training to enforce immigration law.

In that area of North Texas, Jackson said, constituents applaud such efforts and clamor for more.

"I think the federal government certainly should be the entity enforcing immigration law," he said. "However, their lack of taking responsibility doesn't excuse the rest of us from doing whatever we can."

A positive contribution

Chávez vowed to do everything in her power to stop Berman's proposal to take away constitutional rights from babies born in the United States. She plans to meet with El Paso religious leaders and ask for their help, too.

"It is so against the Christian values of love your brother and more so how Christ said, 'Bring the children unto me.' He said all the children, and they're attacking innocent children," she said.

Civil rights activists, Hispanic groups and other legislators said they were expecting a barrage of radical anti-undocumented immigrant proposals and are primed to ward them off.

In 2006, more than 550

immigration-related bills were proposed in legislatures nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-three states adopted nearly 80 bills, covering topics ranging from employment to public benefits and access to driver's licenses. Several states adopted measures to increase penalties for human smuggling and trafficking.

And in Congress, lawmakers have suggested building walls on the border, deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and making it a felony to give aid to undocumented immigrants.

"Texas is different," said Texas ACLU executive director Will Harrell. "There's a history in Texas that isn't so hostile to immigrants."

Harrell said the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and about 18 other groups have formed a coalition to confront negative immigration bills and promote ones they deem reasonable.

"We're trying to focus on the positive contributions and make sure the Legislature understands immigrant bashing isn't the way to go," said Luis Figueroa, legislative staff attorney for MALDEF.

Figueroa said undocumented immigrants pay billions each year in income, sales and property taxes. Often, he said, they do not seek tax returns or public benefits for which they are eligible for fear of being exposed to authorities and deported.

He cites a 2001 University of California at Los Angeles study that found excluding undocumented Mexican immigrants would create a $220 billion drop in U.S. economic output.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said much of the legislation being proposed would also have expensive unintended consequences for the state.

Requiring schools and other state agencies to verify citizenship for millions of children and adults would cost taxpayers, he said. The measures could also create crises in Hispanic communities locally and statewide, Shapleigh said. "We should first agree that immigration is a federal, not a state issue," he said.

Critics of the anti-undocumented immigrant bills agree that current immigration laws and the lax enforcement of them are problematic.

But they urge measures that bring undocumented workers out of the shadows and allow them to legally contribute to society.

For example, Figueroa said, the coalition supports providing driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants so they are easier to track and can obtain auto insurance.

"No doubt we have an immigration problem, but this is not the way to deal with it," said state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus. "We can do it in smart ways without being ugly and mean-spirited."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com;

(512) 479-6606.

It is unChristian, it is unAmerican and any religious order would be against legislation that is so hateful," said state Rep. Norma Chávez, D-El Paso, a member of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

This is what happens once they become lawmakers......it's all about the Race!

When criminals and their supporters think that they can determine what laws are or are not passed or enforced, we're all in trouble.

If we are all racists, why don't they go home and live among their own people.

If they have political asparations, they can fix Mexico instead of turning America into a 3rd world country.

If you move into the nicest mansion in town and turn it into a shack, what good is that? Just stay in your original shack.

Hi UnemployedAmerican. Welcome!

Greetings

Pleasure to be back. I was a user here earlier in the year but I lost my login and password so I opened a new acct.

I am still hoping for America.

"It is unChristian, it is unAmerican and any religious order would be against legislation that is so hateful," said state Rep. Norma Chávez, D-El Paso, a member of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

Chávez vowed to do everything in her power to stop Berman's proposal to take away constitutional rights from babies born in the United States. She plans to meet with El Paso religious leaders and ask for their help, too.

And since the Constitution specifically enshrines "the separation of Church and State", Chavez' statements and attempts to subvert the legislative judicial process through formal application to religious leaders (by an elected political office holder!) to short circuit said legislation, is no less than a constitutional violation. Chavez should be tried for treason, and stripped of her position as duly elected official!

It's about high time we separate the religious non-sense out of our countries' democratic and legislative process! I am SO SICK AND TIRED OF "CHRISTIANS" WHO ARE nothing but demagogue ROGUE POLITICAL OPERATIVES! The likes of Chavez using Catholic Latin Fanaticism to hold the entire country hostage to a bunch of lawbreaking trespassers littering the United States with their illegal children is tantamount to an act of Conspiracy to aid and abet a violation of Title 8,USC 1324!!

Berman aims to eliminate what he sees as the biggest incentive for immigrants to come to the United States illegally - to have babies who automatically become citizens.

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Proponents of cracking down say undocumented immigrants flout state and federal laws; flood local hospitals, state prisons and schools; take advantage of services for which they pay no taxes; and cost the state billions. TRUE

Critics argue that the proposed measures are rooted in racism and fear and that those in the United States illegally contribute more to the economy than they take. They say Texas should take a less draconian approach to fighting illegal immigration. FALSE

Just pass a package that:

1. Secures Your Borders

2. Deports Illegal Aliens

3. Enforces Immigration Laws

Very Simple.