Thread: States take action on immigration issue

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...s_x.htm?csp=34

As the federal government wrestles with the immigration issue, states are implementing their own plans. Here's a state-by-state look:

Alabama
• Training 70 state troopers with the power to arrest illegal immigrants.

Arizona
• Required U.S. citizenship or legal immigrant status to receive health benefits. Illegal immigrants can receive emergency care only.

• Sent troops to assist with vehicle inspections along Arizona's border with Mexico.

• Approved ballot initiatives to be decided by voters in November:

• Making English the official language of Arizona.

• Prohibiting undocumented immigrants from receiving state services such as adult education, child care and in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.

• Prohibiting undocumented immigrants from receiving punitive damages in civil lawsuits.

• Requiring judges to deny bail to undocumented immigrants arrested for serious offenses.

Arkansas
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

California
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature agreed on a $131 billion state budget after dropping proposals to provide health care to children of undocumented immigrants.

• Sent National Guard troops to the Mexico border.

Colorado
• Continued a special legislative session Sunday on illegal immigration.

• Made smuggling people into the USA a felony.

• Barred state agencies from awarding contracts to businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

• Required businesses seeking state contracts to verify immigration status of workers.

• Created a $50,000 civil fine for counterfeiting identification documents.

Connecticut
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Delaware
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Florida
Required proof of legal immigrant status for driver's license applicants.

Georgia
• Required, in a phased-in program that will begin July 1, 2007, that contractors doing business with state or local governments verify citizenship status of new workers.

• Required adult applicants for public benefits to verify eligibility.

• Required all Georgia employers to verify the legal status of employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2008, in order to claim a state income tax deduction on such employees' salaries.

• Required jails to determine the legal status of prisoners charged with a felony or driving under the influence.

Idaho
Limited unemployment benefits to citizens and legal immigrants.

Illinois
Required that people be citizens or legal immigrants to receive state health plan coverage.

Kansas
Limited unemployment benefits to citizens and legal immigrants.

Kentucky
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Louisiana
Authorized the state to investigate contractors suspected of hiring illegal immigrants. The state can order such workers fired and fine businesses that don't comply.

Maine
Tightened requirements for issuing driver's licenses to non-citizens.

Maryland
Required the governor to fund health care services for certain legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

Massachusetts
Gov. Mitt Romney said he would seek federal authority to empower state police to detain illegal immigrants encountered during normal law enforcement activity.

Minnesota
Will send up to 200 National Guard troops to Mexico border.

Missouri
Denied unemployment benefits to workers who aren't citizens.

Montana
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Nebraska
In an effort to assist illegal immigrants, made unauthorized immigrant students eligible for in-state tuition at public universities.

New Hampshire
Required proof of citizenship to register to vote.

New Jersey
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

New Mexico
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

New York
• A state appeals court ruled that the state Department of Motor Vehicles can require immigrants to prove they are in the USA legally before obtaining driver's licenses.

• Will send 150 National Guard troops to the Mexico border.

North Carolina
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Oklahoma
Denied unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants.

Pennsylvania
Prohibited use of illegal immigrants on state projects.

Rhode Island
Effective Jan. 1, children who are not U.S. citizens will not be added to the state's health care program for the poor, even if they are in the USA legally. Children who enroll by Dec. 31 will keep their benefits.

South Dakota
• Required passport or another government-issued identification card when voting.

• Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Tennessee
• Barred state contracts for a year from businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

• Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Texas
• Prohibited businesses from deducting the costs of salaries and benefits for undocumented workers from their taxable revenue.

• Spent $20 million to expand Operation Rio Grande, a border security initiative.

• Will spend $5 million to put hundreds of surveillance cameras along the border at hot spots for criminal activity and routes frequently used to enter the USA.

Virginia
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Wisconsin
Pledged to send troops to the Mexico border.

Wyoming
Barred non-citizens from certain state-funded scholarships. [/b]

Glad to see the state's are taking action into their own hands.

Hey Feds, get the picture yet? time to stop delaying and start taking action!

We pushed a big effort nationally to distribute information to the state legislators across America over 6 months ago. Looks like it is paying off.

I'm adding this to the homepage and then sending a copy to every state legislator in NC. I encourage others to do the same in your states.

If we have the time we will get our national supporters involved to snowball this movement.

Homepage
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... =1&thold=0

States try to block illegal workers

At least 30 states have passed laws or taken other steps this year to crack down on illegal immigrants, often making it harder for undocumented workers to find jobs or receive public services.
STATES TAKE ACTION: A state-by-state look

Acting while Congress struggles to set policy regarding the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, states have enacted at least 57 laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and a USA TODAY analysis. Among major themes of the state legislation: fining businesses that hire undocumented workers and denying such companies public contracts if they don't verify the legal status of employees.

"The trends ... have leaned toward the punitive side," says Ann Morse, an immigration expert at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "The No. 1 topic has been employment in terms of deterring employers and employees."

Examples:

• A Colorado law enacted in June prohibits awarding state contracts to businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

• A Louisiana law approved in June subjects businesses that have state contracts and more than 10 employees to fines if they don't fire workers known to be undocumented.

• A Georgia bill enacted in April has a phased-in requirement that public employers and government contractors and subcontractors verify information on newly hired workers through a federal program.

The U.S. Senate and House have passed widely divergent immigration bills. The Senate's legislation would put most undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship. The House bill would make illegal immigrants felons and increase penalties for hiring them.

Some lawmakers and advocates of stricter immigration enforcement say the flurry of legislation reflects states' mounting frustration with federal officials.

"State and local politicians and the grass-roots in those states are up in arms over Washington's conspicuous lack of leadership," says John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors tighter controls on immigration. "Immigration ... is a driving factor for the three biggest budget items states face: education, health care and criminal justice."

Under federal law, states must provide some services to illegal immigrants, including public education and emergency medical care. States do not have to provide commercial licenses, food assistance, health care, unemployment benefits or other services.

States' focus on workers' documentation is unfair, says Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights group. "It feels like we're back to the days when it's OK to discriminate against minorities," he says.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... kers_x.htm

States' focus on workers' documentation is unfair, says Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights group. "It feels like we're back to the days when it's OK to discriminate against minorities," he says.

No ... it's OK to enforce our laws!

Thanks Panda!

This list is a godsend.

Dixie

This list does not contain the law VA just passed barring taxpayer benefits from all illegals over 18.

It also excludes TNs new practice of requiring legal presence for a license.

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

This list does not contain the law VA just passed barring taxpayer benefits from all illegals over 18.

It also excludes TNs new practice of requiring legal presence for a license.

W

Thanks for adding those. Hard to keep up sometimes.

I see my State of Ohio is doing nothing to stem the invasion.
Both Senators (R) from Ohio are graded F
on their voting on the immigration issues.....what a shame.

This is a very serious issue facing our country and trust me it is not just a Southwestern United States problem.
As I said I live in Ohio, a supposed fly-over state...well, the illegals haven't flown over. They are here en masse.

There are taco wagons all over the place, there are many, many stores just for them....the signs are in spanish, the ads are in spanish, etc.
There is an area here that encompasses probably
5-10 sq. miles of run-down apt. complexes that are way over-flowing with these people. I have to guess most are illegals.
They have effectively displaced the people that used to live there.
I can only suppose that the non-immigrants did not want to live in little mexico.
I feel like they are locusts, a scourge on our society that needs purged.

I have to choose English in my own country, on the phone, at the bank machine, etc. Thats just plain nuts.

I did not used to feel this way at all. I used to stick up for them in conversations with people, but not anymore. Not after their marching protests, burning our flag, telling us to go home to Europe, and saying they intend to take our country.
They have thrown down the gauntlet {mod edit}

I do not want them here in any capacity. We do not need the burdens on our social structure, the violence, crime or threats.

I say GO HOME {mod edit}