Thread: PA: Once more into the immigration breach

Once more into the immigration breach
The debate between reformers and advocates is again simmering in Pennsylvania's Legislature.
By John L. Micek

Call Harrisburg Bureau

October 8, 2007

HARRISBURG |

| A pair of fiery rallies over illegal immigration here recently could fool capital visitors into thinking they'd walked into a scene from last fall's midterm campaigns.

From one side flowed the same angry rhetoric about Washington's failure to stem the flow of thousands of illegal immigrants, and complaints about the social and financial toll undocumented newcomers are taking on state and municipal budgets.

From the other came the complaints of Hispanic groups and other advocates about the stereotyping of Latinos, and pleas for the government to create what they described as a sensible policy offering a path to citizenship.

The debate over immigration reform has again become an issue in the state Legislature. Whether it becomes as big a wedge issue as during the 2006 midterm elections is unknown.

Reformers looking to crack down on the influx of undocumented workers in Pennslvania say they're just picking up the ball that Washington dropped.

They say they want to give state governments more clout to deal with the problem by allowing them to crack down on landlords who rent to undocumented workers and the employers who hire them. A package of such bills is now before a state House committee, and at least two immigration reform bills also are pending in the state Senate.

Some say the reformers are simply laying the groundwork for what they hope will be a galvanizing election year issue.

''Their role is pretty clear, they want to keep the issue in the spotlight,'' said Christopher Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. ''They still think people are pretty concerned about it.''

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Butler County Republican and the Legislature's most vocal immigration reform advocate, rejects suggestions that partisan politics are firing his interest.

Metcalfe is sponsoring a package of bills that he said will turn off the ''economic faucets'' that attract illegal immigrants to Pennsylvania. He also wants to deny access to social welfare programs, and to give in-state law enforcement the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

''This isn't about Democrats or Republicans,'' he said. ''It's about being Pennsylvanian.''

In the Senate, legislation sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, would require proof of citizenship or residency to receive public benefits.

A second bill, sponsored by Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, would require local police to notify federal immigration officials when they arrest an illegal immigrant.

''America is a country with people of diverse backgrounds,'' Orie said in a statement. ''But we cannot protect public safety if we do not ensure that criminals are not coming through our borders.''

Metcalfe's critics agree with him on at least two counts: They believe people should legally enter the country. And they're angry at Washington's failure to reach a compromise on immigration reform.

Where they diverge is over Metcalfe's rhetoric, and his belief that it is the state's responsibility to regulate and set immigration policy. During a news conference highlighting the crimes committed by some illegal immigrants, Metcalfe described the influx as an ''invasion.''

Robert Nix, a Latino from Philadelphia and head of a coalition of Hispanic Republicans, said Metcalfe's tone does little to solve the problem because it scapegoats an entire class of people.

''He's right, this is not a Republican or Democratic issue,'' Nix said. ''That's because the politics of scapegoating for political gain has no place in either political party. And it's not part of the core values of Republicans.''

Nix and others also believe the state has no business regulating immigration because it's a federal responsibility. As proof, he pointed to a federal court's dismissal of Hazleton's ordinance on illegal immigrants.

Metcalfe is unapologetic about his tone and his proposals.

''When you have hundreds of thousands coming across [the border] uninvited, that's an invasion,'' he said. ''I don't think you can call it anything else.''

Metcalfe said he's waging the anti-illegal immigration fight because people want action.

''The mass majority of Pennsylvanians, of Americans, want the illegal alien issue resolved,'' he said. ''It's not about race. It's about what's legal versus illegal.''

Illegal immigration ranked sixth in importance among voters across the Lehigh Valley region, a new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll showed. Among Democratic voters, it ranked ninth; among Republicans, sixth.

''I don't think there's the same urgency as last year,'' Keystone Poll director G. Terry Madonna said. ''The debate in Congress fizzled, and in our state…we're just not a huge state for illegal immigrants.''

Another obstacle Metcalfe and other reformers face: Unlike in 2006, Democrats control the state House, and they're not interested in his bills.

''We are not interested in putting costly additional law enforcement mandates on our municipalities, when it is clearly the responsibility of the federal government to enforce these laws and pay the costs,'' said Michael Manzo, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene.

''Several [House Democrats] are working together to explore penalties for 'bad actor employers' who knowingly hire illegals. But outside of that, there is no way our boroughs, our municipalities or our state police should be paying to do what the feds have failed to do.''


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You know it used to be simple, cut and dry. FOLLOW THE CONSTITUTION AND WE WOULD NOT BE IN THIS DAMN MESS! But oh no money is the big talker.

Let law officers do their job! How hard is it to determine if someone is legal??!! They act like it's a CSI job. You either are legal or you illegal. If you are legal, then you can prove it. Kinda like asking for a driver's license.