Friday, November 30, 2012 at 1:12 by Pat Gannon
starnewsonline.com



A group of lawmakers setting the state’s course on immigration reform will hold its final meeting next week to make recommendations for legislation on the controversial subject.

Recommendations from the House Select Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy will be handed over to the General Assembly for possible action during the coming legislative session, which begins in January.

State Rep. Frank Iler, an Oak Island Republican and committee co-chairman, said the recommendations would be “very modest” and “to the point” and include recommendations for new state laws, as well as resolutions to urge the federal government to do more on the illegal immigration issue. The findings and recommendations section of the report is about two pages, Iler said.

One recommendation will be for the General Assembly to pass a resolution urging the federal government to “seal the southern border of the United States.” The committee won’t suggest how that should be done, however, Iler added.

The report also will include recommendations for General Assembly action, including specifying what types of identification for illegal immigrants should be accepted in North Carolina.

He suggested that some people will think the recommendations go too far, while some will believe they don’t go far enough to stem the impacts of illegal immigration in North Carolina.

“I always wish we could do more and solve the problem today,” Iler said.

Iler said the report is complete and that committee members should receive a copy Friday, but he declined to release one to the StarNews. Check back on Monday, he said.

The committee meets at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh.

State immigration policy committee to release final report to lawmakers | Cape Fear Watchdog$