Monday, November 29, 2010

Two Nevada lawmakers to push for immigration law

The Associated PressShare on Facebook Email Print Comment Two Nevada lawmakers to push for immigration law


The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — At least two Republicans seek to introduce legislation targeting illegal immigration at the upcoming session of the Nevada Legislature.

Assemblyman Don Gustavson of Sparks and Assemblyman-elect Pat Hickey of Reno are each pursuing two separate bills, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Gustavson is moving up to the state Senate in January after a victory in the Nov. 2 election.

Gustavson is pushing for a bill based on the controversial Arizona immigration law being challenged in federal court. He also wants legislation requiring driver's license exams to be administered in English only. The exams now also are given in Spanish.

Hickey seeks legislation that would require employers to use the federal E-Verify system to determine whether employees are authorized to work in the U.S. He also plans to push for a bill that would impose a fee on money wire transfers outside the country.

Hickey said the latter bill would give undocumented workers who send money home each month a better chance to "pay their fair share."

Gustavson said the goal of his Arizona-style bill is to "get citizens in Nevada back to work."

"We have a lot of people in the country illegally and working here," he said, adding targeting undocumented workers could open up jobs for others.

But Hickey said Gustavson's bill doesn't have "a snowball's chance in hell of passing in Nevada."

"We're not a border state with the same safety and legal concerns that Arizona has," Hickey said. "I'm trying to propose a couple pieces of legislation a little more targeted to challenges" in Nevada.

A judge earlier this year blocked portions of the Arizona law that would have allowed police officers to question a person's legal status while enforcing other laws. But other sections of the law were not blocked.

Incoming Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, suggested there's little benefit in debating whether Nevada should adopt Arizona's law.

"Anything that divides people, sets them apart, is probably not a good thing," he told the Review-Journal.

Republican Sig Rogich, a prominent Las Vegas political consultant, said a hard-line stance on immigration could play well with a portion of the GOP base but would drive away centrists and Hispanic voters.

"They should avoid the short-term temptation of playing to people's anxieties and fears and look to the long-term solutions," he said.

Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, said Nevada bills targeting illegal immigration have failed in the past because they would have infringed on individual rights, not just on illegal immigrants.






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