Coates, Terrill debate on immigration

by: MICK HINTON World Capitol Bureau
2/24/2008 12:00 AM

SEMINOLE -- Folks crowded into the Lunch and Such cafe Saturday morning to hear a couple of Republicans have a fiery debate about immigration, but the encounter turned out to be mostly friendly discourse.

Local state Sen. Harry Coates, a strong advocate for repealing portions of Oklahoma's tough immigration law, was perturbed that his own Seminole County Republicans had invited Rep. Randy Terrill to speak at their county convention.

Terrill, architect of the immigration law, House Bill 1804, said he discovered that Coates had stacked the audience with foes of the legislation who sported "Fix 1804" stickers.

The city manager was there, as well as the local priest and even a Hispanic worker.

Paul Ashcroft, who teaches accounting at East Central University in Ada, was one of the few who sided with Terrill.

Ashcroft told Coates that he didn't understand how anybody could be in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to attend college.

Terrill, R-Moore, said such students were taking the place of U.S. citizens. But Coates said, "I don't know why we wouldn't educate them" since they are staying in the state.

Higher education officials say that considerably less than 1 percent of the state's university population is made up of Hispanic students with questionable legal status.

Ashcroft and others supporting Terrill's stance said they learned much more about HB 1804 because the author of the legislation was so knowledgeable.

But others in the standing-room- only crowd of about 100 remained unconvinced that the law should stand.

The law created by HB 1804 makes it a state felony to knowingly transport illegal aliens. It also creates state barriers to hiring illegal immigrants and requires proof of citizenship to receive certain government benefits. After July 1, it requires state contractors to check the immigration status of workers.

Melvin Moran, a former Seminole mayor, said that even the chambers of commerce were supporting repeal of the legislation and have joined a federal lawsuit.

Terrill caused some comments from the crowd when he replied that the chambers were more interested in getting tax credits for businesses, including some that provide "benefits for same-sex partners."

Coates drew applause when he said the chambers now understand that "they stood idly by and let an immoral bill pass."

He said the end result is that good Hispanic workers are leaving the state and going to border states while Oklahoma has virtually no unemployment and cannot fill its manual labor and service jobs.

Coates said that his proposed legislation to repeal key sections of the immigration reform law failed to get out of committee last week, although the Legislature could come up with other vehicles for revising HB 1804.

Although Coates is a Republican, he was elected from a district where three out of four voters are registered Democrats. Locals do not think there had ever been a Republican elected from the district.

Seminole City Manager Steve Saxon said after the meeting that Sigma Processed Meats Inc., owned by a Mexican-based company, is opening a local plant in April that will employ 300 people. He said about a third of the workers will be Hispanic.

Saxon said he doubts the company would have come to Seminole if HB 1804 had been law at the time.

He said plant officials talked about two more expansions, but those plans are now on hold.

Father Basil Keenan, pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, said there are probably 500 Hispanics in the Seminole area. He said about 100 of them regularly attend church, and they have been welcomed by the parish.

Alex Morales, a Hispanic who works for an area company, edged his way through the crowd trying to talk to Terrill after the debate.

"I told him that we come here to work. We like to work; we are workaholics," said Morales, a U.S. citizen. "It is not true that we are here to make felonies; we are here to work for our families."

Barry Tims, Seminole County Republican Party chairman, said he thought it was a "great meeting."

"I had never read the bill, but I know a lot more about it now," he said.

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