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Immigrants Getting Extra Attention In Session
Texas not only state that is looking at adding restrictions

08:13 PM CDT on Saturday, May 14, 2005
By KAREN BROOKS and ERNESTO LONDOÑO / The Dallas Morning News

Mexican immigrant Erasto Corona has zero interest in becoming an American citizen.

COURTNEY PERRY/Special Contributor
Oak Cliff ice cream vendor Erasto Corona isn't a U.S. citizen, but bills under consideration in the Legislature would directly affect him. Too many laws that meddle in people's lives, the Oak Cliff ice cream vendor says.

But he doesn't have to be a citizen for the politicians of Texas to do that. The Legislature is considering dozens of bills that would have a direct effect on Mr. Corona, who became a permanent resident in the 1980s after two decades as an illegal immigrant, and all who have followed him.

"In Mexico," said Mr. Corona, 73, "the government tells you: 'You're all grown up, look after yourself.' "

In Texas, some lawmakers want to put new restrictions on how immigrants drive, where they get health care, whom they marry, and where – or whether – they get a college education.

And Texas isn't alone. States are increasingly writing laws to govern the lives of immigrants, picking up areas that federal immigration policy may not address.

For example, the federal government doesn't regulate whether states must provide health care, tuition at in-state rates, bilingual education and driver's licenses for immigrants, leaving it up to the states to figure out those details. The result is a patchwork of laws enforced not by immigration officers but by local and state officials. Last year, voters in Arizona approved Proposition 200, which limits immigrants' access to some public services.

"What you're seeing in states now is a signaling that there needs to be some response to the sizable increase in illegal immigration," said Ann Morse, program director of the Immigrant Policy Project at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "When you have tight budget times, you see people looking for scapegoats."

Proposed Measures

Some bills moving in the Legislature that would affect immigrants:

A bill to protect those who purchase property under a contract for deed. Passed by the Senate, it's pending in the House.

A measure to require that those seeking marriage licenses declare they are not marrying simply to obtain immigration benefits and that they will not be paid for entering the marriage. Passed by the House, it's pending in the Senate.

A bill allowing the state to sign agreements with other countries to make Texas driver's licenses valid in those countries, and vice versa. Foreign citizens would have to prove they are in the U.S. legally. Passed by the House, it's pending in the Senate.

SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
Even Georgia, Colorado and North Carolina, states with traditionally low levels of immigration, have become players in the national debate as their states attract a large number of immigrants.

In Texas, which has more immigrants than every state but California, community activists are especially interested in two bills that would tighten oversight of certain real estate transactions.

The bills, one by Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, and one by Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, would give more rights to homebuyers purchasing houses through contracts for deed and rent-to-own agreements. Advocates say that the transactions have allowed unscrupulous businesspeople to scam thousands of would-be homebuyers.

"Traditionally, it's very hard for immigrant families to buy homes because banks historically have not offered loans or products to families who were undocumented" or have a poor credit history, said Steve Dooley, a spokesman for ACORN, a group that describes itself as a community organization of low- and moderate-income families.

The bills have passed their respective chambers and are continuing to move forward.

Dozens of others, though, are more hotly contested, often by Republicans who say they offer incentives and rewards for illegal immigration. These bills hang in limbo with less than three weeks left in the legislative session.

Republicans are holding up legislation by Democratic Reps. Norma Chavez of El Paso and Roberto Alonzo of Dallas that would let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses. Mr. Alonzo is also working to get the state to recognize identification issued by a Mexican consulate – known as a matricula consular.

Insurance companies and police groups support such laws. Some Republicans say they encourage illegal immigrants to live and work in Texas.

Even marriage has become an immigration issue. The House recently passed a bill by Rep. Joe Nixon, R-Houston, that would require an immigrant engaged to a U.S. citizen to swear the marriage wasn't simply an effort to gain citizenship. It would create a marriage database, and violators could face state jail felony charges.

"There are rings operating in Harris County that do this for money," Mr. Nixon said.

In the state budget bill, House Republicans seek to strip $17 million a year in funding for a health insurance program that serves illegal immigrant children. They argue that the money could be better used drawing federal matching funds for children who are citizens and who are on long waiting lists for services.

"The state has chosen not to insure some Texans in order to be able to insure some immigrants," said Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, who wrote the provision. "I'm not trying to do anything to immigrants, but this is something that concerns me."

Key Democrats say that such provisions will merely pass costs down to local governments because immigrants in Texas are not going anywhere.

The measure didn't make it into the Senate version of the bill and will probably be removed when the two chambers negotiate to make the bills match.

Even bills governing voting – something illegal immigrants can't do – have been touched by the immigration issue.

Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, a member of a House Elections subcommittee on voting, helped block a bill that requires proof of citizenship to vote. Opponents noted that proof of citizenship is already required to get a driver's license, a common ID used to register and cast a ballot.

The bill's author, Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, argued that it would stop illegal residents from voting.

"Anytime someone who is not a citizen votes, it diminishes the vote for the rest of us," she said.

But opponents say that the bill may deter naturalized citizens and that there's no evidence of illegal immigrants flocking to the polls.

Facing heavy opposition, Ms. Brown said she abandoned the bill to support a slightly weaker bill that requires an ID to vote. That legislation passed the House but is considered dead in the Senate after 11 Democrats vowed to block it.

In some ways, such debates occur outside the everyday reality that immigrants face. Even after decades in the U.S., Mr. Corona, the ice-cream vendor, still lives cautiously, never opening a bank account and carrying a half-dozen identification documents anytime he leaves the house.

Why? Because he's sure that immigration officials will hassle him "if I don't have it handy."

E-mail kmbrooks@dallasnews.com and elondono@dallasnews.com