Secure Arkansas continues push
Aug 23, 2008
By Don Dailey
The Morning News

SPRINGDALE - Jeannie Burlsworth is not giving up her effort to get illegal immigrants banned from receiving certain state services.

The founder of Secure Arkansas was in Northwest Arkansas last week to assure supporters she remains committed even though her group failed to gather enough signatures to place an initiated act on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Burlsworth held two public meetings, one in Rogers and the other in Springdale. She also held at least one meeting with supporters that was closed to the public.

"You're good people," Burlsworth told a group of 15 people gathered in the Rogers Public Library. "You've been abused enough up here."

Secure Arkansas gathered about 57,000 signatures in six weeks earlier this summer, about 5,000 signatures short of the number needed to get the proposal on the ballot.

The proposal would have required those wanting some state-provided benefits, such as some services offered by the Department of Health, to sign affidavits attesting to their U.S. citizenship.

All in the audience at the Rogers meeting were familiar with Burlsworth, though she had never met them, having communicated only through e-mail.

The next night at the Jones Center in Springdale, 20 people showed up, many who heard of the meeting through television news coverage of the meeting the night before.

Jim Miranda, a Bella Vista resident who advocates for Hispanic causes, said Burlsworth's inability to draw more than 20 people to a meeting in Northwest Arkansas indicated to him that Burlsworth overestimated her message's resonance in the area.

"I believe people have a lot more issues they think are more important at this time," Miranda said.

Burlsworth said she never intended or expected to draw large crowds at last week's meetings.

"What I was just trying to do is meet some of the people I'd never met before," she said.

Her audiences may have been small, but the people who attended are passionate about illegal immigration.

Tammy McCannon, a Rogers woman who attended the meeting at the library, volunteered to open her house to other supporters to work for the cause.

"We are not going to go away," she said. "We are going to get more organized."

McCannon said she has two children who attend Rogers schools, and she believes they are suffering academically because teachers spend too much time with children who speak English poorly.

Stephanie Vaughn, a Springdale resident and Northwest Arkansas event coordinator for Secure Arkansas, told the audience at the Springdale meeting that her husband's contracting business failed because he couldn't compete with contractors who hired illegal immigrants.

Vaughn told the audience that building support for the group should be easy. She asked that each audience member call five friends and ask those five to call five other people and soon the 20 people in the audience could reach thousands.

Burlsworth said the fact that the group fell just short in only six weeks of gathering signatures gave her confidence they could prevail and get the act on the 2010 general election ballot.

She said it's even more important because some surrounding states have enacted similar restrictions, which have driven illegal immigrants into Arkansas.

Rey Hernandez, deputy state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said he didn't doubt Burlsworth would be able to get the proposal on the ballot.

"Whether they're able to move their agenda forward is another question," he said.

Hernandez disputed the notion that illegal immigrants have fled to Arkansas for its less restrictive requirements.

"Most of their rhetoric is not based on fact," Hernandez said.

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