Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    New Alien City-(formerly New York City)
    Posts
    12,611

    GOP platform predicts return of anti-immigrant bills

    GOP platform predicts return of anti-immigrant bills

    bozemandailychronicle.com
    LAURA LUNDQUIST, Staff Writer
    Posted: Sunday, September 9, 2012 12:15 am


    Editor's Note:
    The number of immigrants in the United States and Montana has dramatically increased in the last decade. Some welcome the people from far-away places, the culture they bring and the work they do. Others, including many state lawmakers, have concerns: Who is being allowed into the country? Is enough being done to keep others out? How will it change us?

    In this four-day series, “The Immigrants Among Us,” the Chronicle examines those issues and some of the people seeking their version of the American dream here in Gallatin County.


    Over the past three Legislative sessions, an increasing number of bills have targeted illegal immigrants in Montana. If the recently rewritten GOP platform is any indication, more such legislation is to come.

    November’s ballot will include Montana’s first referendum on illegal immigrants, Legislative Referendum 121. If passed, the law will deny state-funded services to those who don’t have proper identification.

    Services include being hired for a state job, attending a university, obtaining a driver’s or professional license, or receiving crime victims’ aid or services for the disabled.

    Voters get to weigh in because lawmakers thought the bill had a greater likelihood of passing as a ballot referendum. Otherwise, it would have gone to the governor’s desk in 2011, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer had already vetoed a related bill.

    The sponsor, Park City representative David Howard, introduced six other illegal-immigrant bills during the 2011 Legislature. One became law while three died in committee.

    The bill that passed requires people to prove their legal status prior to being issued a driver’s license or ID card.

    The bill that Schweitzer ensured didn’t pass was HB-492, which would have made it a crime for a local government to "adopt, implement, or enforce an immigration sanctuary.”

    In a letter explaining his veto, Schweitzer wrote, “The sponsors of this legislation never pointed to a single incident in which a local government in Montana created, attempted to create, or showed any interest in creating an immigration sanctuary. The legislature should not, therefore, concern itself with frivolous matters, such as remedying problems that do not exist.”

    Rather than tempt Schweitzer’s censorship again, Howard put LR-121 to the voters. He called his bill “proactive,” and said without it, Montana could someday end up like Arizona.

    But several organizations stand against the referendum, including the Montana Human Rights Network, the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse, and the Teamsters.

    Montana Human Rights Network director Jamie Greer testified against Howard’s bill and the way the Judicial Committee ran its hearings.

    “People have been testifying in support of racist, anti-immigrant legislation,” Greer said to the committee in March 2011. “I object to the language that’s been used here, language like ‘dilute.’ I’m embarrassed that this is happening.”

    While state Republicans backed almost all of Howard’s bills, former Sen. Joe Balyeat was one of two who voted against the LR-121 bill.

    “It was drafted too broadly and it granted government too much power,” Balyeat said.

    Paul Nachman, a physicist who immigrated to Bozeman from California in 2005, said he doesn’t want Bozeman to turn into Redondo Beach. He said the immigration problem there is degrading the American way of life economically and culturally.

    He shrugged off arguments that all U.S. citizens are or come from immigrants.

    “It turned out right before because waves of immigration stopped and people assimilated,” Nachman said. “But now ballots are being printed in other languages. And the discussion gets suppressed because you get called a racist.”

    Nachman repeatedly testified in favor of Howard’s bills and said he was disappointed that the vote for the LR-121 bill was along partisan lines.

    “Labor unions used to be the strongest opponents against immigrant labor, but now they’re slitting their own throats,” Nachman said.


    While supportive of Howard’s efforts to stop immigrants from getting jobs, Nachman said Howard could have written one bill differently. HB-274, which passed the House but not the Senate, would have punished the employers of illegal immigrants. Employers would pay only $20 per illegal employee, but their licenses would be suspended for 30 days.

    “I thought Dave made a mistake, making it across the board,” Nachman said. “If Dave is re-elected, I expect he’ll propose the bills again. The sanctuary cities bill is a good one.”

    Nachman said he’d testify again just as he did in 2009, when Howard introduced three similar bills that didn’t make it out of committee.

    Sen. Jim Shockley had a similar record in 2009 with his three immigrant-related bills, one of which would have prevented local governments from passing laws to protect illegal immigrants. That bill appears to be the basis of the Howard bill that Schweitzer vetoed.

    Shockley sounded more pragmatic than Nachman when he said he wrote his bills to enforce the law and save Montanans money.

    “A lot of people who want to use illegal aliens are corporations who benefit because they can pay them less,” Shockley said. “These people don’t get any benefits, so who takes care of them? You and me.”

    Shockley said he heard from clients that Big Sky contractors used a lot of illegal immigrants because they were less expensive and they worked hard.

    “I don’t mind aliens; I just want them legal. The law is the law,” Shockley said. “I don’t really think Montana has a big problem… yet. Emphasis on ‘yet.’”

    If Howard does return, his bills will probably have unwavering GOP support again, based upon the party’s most-recent platform, which says, “The Montana Republican Party supports securing our borders against illegal immigration, removing illegal immigrants, and punishing employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.”

    Calls to Howard were not returned.

    Laura Lundquist can be reached at 582-2638 or llundquist@dailychronicle.com.

    GOP platform predicts return of anti-immigrant bills - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Immigration
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  2. #2
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    New Alien City-(formerly New York City)
    Posts
    12,611

    The immigrants among us

    The immigrants among us

    bozemandailychronicle.com
    WHITNEY BERMES, Chronicle Staff Writer
    Posted: Sunday, September 9, 2012 12:15 am


    Jose Rios, 26, from the state of Durango in Mexico, reflects on his day's work after arriving at his home in Belgrade on Monday, June 25. Rios, who arrived to the United States at 16, is now a naturalized U.S. citizen and has started his independent contractor business working in different kinds of construction in all of Montana.



    Jose Rios came to the United States to escape the violence of his country.

    “Mexico started being really bad, dangerous,” said Rios, 26. “A lot of drug dealings, kidnappings. That’s really bad for honest people who try to make a living there.

    “I feel a lot more safe here in the United States.”

    As a 16-year-old, Rios came to America with his uncle, first living in Colorado before moving to Montana about six years ago. He follows in his family’s footsteps; Rios had a great-uncle who worked as a miner in Butte decades before.

    “I came here to work with a masonry company from Colorado,” Rios said. “I stayed here because I really like it here. I like the view and the outdoors activities. There is no crime. It is really nice.”

    Rios became a U.S. citizen about two years ago. He owns his own business, employing two others doing residential roofing and framing across Montana, from Bozeman to Billings.

    Language was a bit of a barrier at first for Rios, he said. He learned to write English in school in Mexico, but “I didn’t know how to speak it.”

    Rios attended high school for a bit in the United States and learned most of the language. He’s continuing to learn here, taking English classes in Bozeman. He hopes to get his GED and attend college in the future, possibly studying construction management.

    He said while he hasn’t had a problem with the vast majority of people in Montana, some people have treated him differently because of the color of his skin and his accent.

    “Like they say, here you are illegal until you prove it,” Rios said. “And that’s very un-American.

    “I run into a lot of nice people, but sometimes there is some racist people,” Rios said. “There is good people and bad people anywhere.”

    Rios is one of a growing number of Latino immigrants who make their homes in Montana communities.

    Nationwide, the Latino population continues to explode. Latinos make up 16 percent of the U.S. population, which is up from 13 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million between 2000 and 2010, accounting for half of the increase in total U.S. population.

    Montana followed the national trend, seeing the Hispanic population grow by 45 percent, going from comprising 2 percent of the state’s population to 2.9 percent.

    According to 2010 U.S. Census data, Latinos are the largest minority in Gallatin County, accounting for more than 2.7 percent of the population — 2,470 people.

    Latinos are the second largest minority population in Montana behind Native Americans. In 2010, when Montana’s population was about 989,400, there were about 28,500 Latinos living in the state.

    Yellowstone County has the largest Latino population in Montana with just shy of 7,000. Missoula County is second with 2,800, followed by Cascade County with 2,711.

    U.S. Census data does not break down the Latino population based on legal status. The number of illegal immigrants is unknown.

    Bethany Letiecq is an associate professor of community health at Montana State University in the health and human development department. Her research has focused on the health and welfare of Mexican migrants in Montana.

    “We’re not exactly the hub of Mexican migration,” Letiecq said. “We have seen a huge growth, but the numbers are very small.”

    Jobs immigrants take in Gallatin County, and across the state, are typically what Letiecq describes as high-skill and low-education jobs, predominantly construction and agricultural positions.

    Rural states like Montana have seen the fastest growth in immigrant communities, Letiecq said. Crime rates are lower, and populations and the land are more similar to where immigrants are coming from.

    “The land and the sense of place I think resonate with people,” Letiecq said.

    Montana’s beautiful landscapes and bountiful outdoor recreational opportunities, the qualities that bring people from all across the United States, are the same qualities that also attract people from outside our borders.

    “They are coming here because of the high quality of life that attracts all of us here,” Letiecq said. “That is drawing a lot of people here. Montana is historically a great state that welcomes people who are immigrating here.”

    Will growth of Latino immigrants in Montana continue in the future? That all depends, Letiecq said. Immigration trends are closely related to economic trends, she said.

    “If the economy improves, I anticipate we will see people of all classes and shades of color coming to Montana to work because we are trying to grow our economy.”

    Whitney Bermes can be reached at wbermes@dailychronicle.com or 582-2648.

    The immigrants among us - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Immigration
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •