Thread: MA: State Rep. Garrett Bradley Opposes Tuition Benefit for I

Your Rep: Opposes tuition benefit for illegals

By Garrett Bradley
Special to the Journal
Posted Feb 22, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
Hingham —



You may have read recently that a bill to allow illegal or undocumented immigrants, residing in our state, to take advantage of the lower resident tuition rate at our public colleges was heard by the Higher Education Committee. Because the bill was filed on time, it must have a public hearing. It has not been debated and I do not expect it be this year. For the record, I oppose giving this benefit to people in this country illegally. My belief is we do not reward illegal behavior. Furthermore, if there is additional money available it should be utilized to reduce tuition and fees.

While we are on the subject of illegal immigration, I wanted to let you know that I filed legislation that would target businesses that employ illegal aliens here in Massachusetts. The bill, H.1793, is a re-file of similar legislation I proposed in the previous session. I have contacted the Chair of the House Committee on Labor and Workforce Development asking for the bill to be reported out favorably from the committee.

The legislation amends state labor laws by requiring that businesses found to be employing illegal workers be closed and padlocked for a period of 30 days. Such a closure would allow authorities to investigate the situation and make recommendations for further civil or criminal action.

While thousands of businesses across Massachusetts follow the laws governing employment of U.S. citizens and legal residents, a handful of companies fail to check the identities and work status of their employees. This illegal behavior cheats the taxpayers and law-abiding businesses, and must be prevented. With the number of people out of work businesses should be employing only legal citizens.

The legislation was inspired in part by recent cases in which companies have been caught employing illegal, undocumented immigrant workers. In March 2007, for example, a company in New Bedford was raided by local, state and federal authorities for employing 361 illegal immigrants.

As always I am happy to discuss this issue or any issue with you. If you have any questions, I can be reached at 617-722-2520 or at Rep.GarrettBradley@hou.state.ma.us. For further information on issues affecting the Commonwealth and our district, visit www.garrettbradley.com.

State Rep. Garrett Bradley represents the Third Plymouth District consisting of Hingham, Cohasset, Hull and one precinct in Scituate.

www.wickedlocal.com

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's one small step for man....

Good!

Great news! I think I will pass this on to politicians in N Carolina. We have high unemployment and I still see many illegals working on road and bridge projects. Especially when it was time to pour concrete,they were all over the place in this small town. I know American citizens work concrete!