Real Immigration Reform: Our elected leaders didn't lead

Our elected leaders didn't lead, they compromised to the point of corruption.

Real Immigration Reform

By Bob Beers
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Prior to the last legislative session in Nevada I proposed the bill summarized below. Because illegal immigration yet again became the top story in my local newspaper, and because every elected official we currently have in Washington is unable to give a clear answer as to what to do about it, I thought it was time to illustrate that the answer is really quite simple. Enforce the blinking law!!

Unfortunately, not one member of our legislature has the courage to do that. I wager if you take the time to call them and ask that question you will get the same evasion the paper got. My reception was considerably colder. The Democrats see every illegal as a potential vote...regardless of what the constitution or what federal immigration law says. The Republicans see them as cheap labor, far cheaper than even the minimum wage teenagers their constituents have available.

Read the text of this bill and then ask your representative why such a bill would bankrupt the country. That is what my fellow Republicans told me it would do. What I see is that the bankruptcy is already happening because this bill and others like it were blocked by both parties. There is a reason conservatives lost the White House and the Legislature. Our elected leaders didn’t lead, they compromised to the point of corruption. We need better and we can have better...if we bother to do the work necessary.

Illegal Immigration Bill Draft Summary
Bob Beers, Assembly District 21, Nevada

SECTION 1: TITLE.

Creates the Nevada Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2009.
SECTION 2: FINDINGS.

Legislative statement of intent that failure to enforce immigration law harms the safety and welfare of citizens and legal residents of Nevada.
Declaration that the State has a compelling interest in insuring that government agencies and employers fully cooperate in the compliance with and enforcement of federal immigration law.
SECTION 3: FELONY TRANSPORTATION & HARBORING OF AN ILLEGAL ALIEN.
Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to move, transport, or attempt to transport persons known to be illegal aliens within Nevada.
Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection in any place within the State persons known to be illegal aliens.
Provides an exception for the transportation or harboring of illegal aliens if it’s associated with the provision of any benefit guaranteed to illegal aliens by federal law, or regulated public health services provided by a private charity with private funds.
SECTION 4: LAWFUL PRESENCE TEST FOR DRIVERS LICENSE & ID CARD
APPLICANTS.
Restricts eligibility for state driver’s licenses and identity cards to citizens, nationals, and legal immigrants.
Allows legally present nonimmigrants to be issued temporary licenses and ID cards valid only for the period for which the nonimmigrant has been admitted to the U.S.
Provides an exception for schools IDs, as long as the school ID clearly states that the document is only valid for identification purposes at the institution where it was issued.
SECTION 5: VERIFICATION OF CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION STATUS OF PERSONS ARRESTED.

Requires jail officials to attempt to verify the citizenship or immigration status of any person arrested or confined through the federal Law Enforcement Support Center operated by U.S. DHS.
Requires foreign nationals who have not been lawfully admitted to the U.S. to be deemed a flight risk for bond determination purposes.
SECTION 6: DEFINITIONS.

Defines the terms “status verification systemâ€