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DAP Forums > DREAM Act > The News Room

Political Battle on Illegal Immigration Shifts to States

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#1
12-31-2010, 10:41 PM
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lighter
40 AP
Quote:
Legislative leaders in at least half a dozen states say they will propose bills similar to a controversial law to fight illegal immigration that was adopted by Arizona last spring, even though a federal court has suspended central provisions of that statute.

The efforts, led by Republicans, are part of a wave of state measures coming this year aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

Legislators have also announced measures to limit access to public colleges and other benefits for illegal immigrants and to punish employers who hire them.

Next week, at least five states plan to begin an unusual coordinated effort to cancel automatic United States citizenship for children born in this country to illegal immigrant parents.

Opponents say that effort would be unconstitutional, arguing that the power to grant citizenship resides with the federal government, not with the states. Still, the chances of passing many of these measures appear better than at any time since 2006, when many states, frustrated with inaction in Washington, began proposing initiatives to curb illegal immigration.

Republicans gained more than 690 seats in state legislatures nationwide in the November midterms, winning their strongest representation at the state level in more than 80 years.

Few people expect movement on immigration issues when Congress reconvenes next week in a divided Washington. Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives, do not support an overhaul of immigration laws that President Obama has promised to continue to push. State lawmakers say it has fallen to them to act.

“The federal government’s failure to enforce our border has functionally turned every state into a border state,” said Randy Terrill, a Republican representative in Oklahoma who has led the drive for anti-illegal immigration laws there. “This is federalism in action,” he said. “The states are stepping in and filling the void left by the federal government.”

But the proposals have already drawn opposition from some business groups. And they are forcing strategic soul-searching within the Republican Party nationwide, with a rising populist base on one side demanding tough immigration measures, and, on the other side, traditional Republican supporters in business and a fast-growing Latino electorate strongly opposing those measures.

In Utah, a state dominated by Republicans, leaders from business, law enforcement, several churches and the Latino community sought to bridge the divide by joining together in November in a compact urging moderation on immigration issues.

Some of the more contentious measures may not go into effect immediately, including Arizona-style bills and those intended to eliminate birthright citizenship for American-born children of illegal immigrants. Latino and immigrant advocate legal organizations are gearing up for a host of court challenges.

Among the states expected to introduce bills similar to Arizona’s are Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

The Arizona law authorized the state and local police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they detained for other reasons, if they had a “reasonable suspicion” that the person was an illegal immigrant.

Acting on a lawsuit filed by the Obama administration, a federal judge stayed central provisions of the law. In November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments on an appeal of that stay by Arizona.

“States will push ahead regardless of the Ninth Circuit,” said Kris Kobach, a law professor and politician from Kansas who helped many states devise immigration laws — including Arizona’s. “A lot of people recognize that the district judge’s decision is very much open to dispute.”

In Oklahoma, where Republicans won big majorities in both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office, Mr. Terrill said he would introduce a bill he called “Arizona plus.” In addition to the terms of Arizona’s law, it would allow for the seizure of vehicles and property used to transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

In Georgia, an all-Republican commission of legislators plans to propose measures to enhance enforcement of tough laws already on the books. Georgia will also consider a bill to bar illegal immigrant students from all public universities.

The newly elected governor, Nathan Deal, a Republican, is expected to sign those bills. But the Georgia Farm Bureau, which represents the state’s powerful growers, voted to oppose any measures that would affect immigrant farm workers, most of whom do not have legal status.

In Kansas, Republicans won big majorities in both legislative houses and Sam Brownback, who just retired as a United States senator, was elected governor. Mr. Kobach, the law professor, was elected secretary of state after a campaign in which he vowed to pass a law requiring proof of citizenship for voters.

But the Kansas Chamber of Commerce has voiced its opposition, and Mr. Brownback has said he will focus on reducing unemployment.

The newest initiative is a joint effort among lawmakers from states including Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri and Pennsylvania to pass laws based on a single model that would deny American citizenship to children born in those states to illegal immigrants. The legislators were to announce the campaign in Washington on Wednesday.

A leader of that effort is Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican state representative from Pennsylvania. At a recent news conference, Mr. Metcalfe said his goal was to eliminate “an ‘anchor baby’ status, in which an illegal alien invader comes into our country and has a child on our soil that is granted citizenship automatically.”

The campaign is certain to run into legal obstacles. Courts have interpreted the 14th Amendment as guaranteeing birthright citizenship. Even among those who seek its repeal, debate has hinged on whether that would require a constitutional amendment, an act of Congress or a decision by the Supreme Court.

Some Republicans argue that the party is risking losing its appeal to Latino voters, the fastest-growing minority voter bloc.

“The Republican Party is divided between those who see that Hispanics are an essential constituency going forward, and those who don’t see that,” said Tamar Jacoby, a Republican who is the president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a business coalition that supports legalization for illegal immigrants.

Latino and immigrant advocate groups are resigned to being on the defensive for the next two years. “These laws are creating resentment within the Latino community that is going to last for decades,” said Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah in Salt Lake City, an immigrant advocacy group.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/us/01immig.html?_r=1

Look at what America's becoming lol
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#2
12-31-2010, 11:50 PM
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I just wish insted of state level, they just do it on national level. If they do it national level we will see huge and massive protest agianst it and finally they'll do some work done on immigration.
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#3
01-01-2011, 09:46 AM
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hahah I can't wait till those blows up. It's going to be entertaining.
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#4
01-01-2011, 02:50 PM
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Nic89
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Originally Posted by Feenmi View Post
hahah I can't wait till those blows up. It's going to be entertaining.
I'll bet you its going to be masive protest, expecting even bigger then civil rights movements. We alredy saw the trailer in 2007 when house passes Anti's bill and its time to see the real movie. Its gone be really intresting to see when President, Senators and Reps and finally american peoples will wake up and freeez everything uppp until they act on it.
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#5
01-01-2011, 02:51 PM
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It'll be love to see Session, Smith and king when these heats up.
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#6
01-01-2011, 03:06 PM
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tlr91
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I also hope to see things heat up it will be nice if the DA became very public and that a border security bill be passed and then hopefully the talks on passing the DA begin its just hope I really dont know what to expect with all these republicans in both chambers.
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#7
01-01-2011, 03:27 PM
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Nic89
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I used to belive DA had good chance of passing with standalone bill. After looking at last month votes i will say only way DA can passes, its with CIR or one of Anti's bill, but i dout it if they'll let Anti have evrything just for DA and then CIR will never pass b/c anti got everything they want. So i thing pro-immigration groups will not give what Anti wants for DA. So DA has good chances with CIR and strong Anti's enforcemnt bills or Anti's just willing to pass DA with only border security bills without any internal enforcement and CIR can use the internal enforcement bills to pass.
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#8
01-01-2011, 06:57 PM
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tlr91
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nic89 View Post
I used to belive DA had good chance of passing with standalone bill. After looking at last month votes i will say only way DA can passes, its with CIR or one of Anti's bill, but i dout it if they'll let Anti have evrything just for DA and then CIR will never pass b/c anti got everything they want. So i thing pro-immigration groups will not give what Anti wants for DA. So DA has good chances with CIR and strong Anti's enforcemnt bills or Anti's just willing to pass DA with only border security bills without any internal enforcement and CIR can use the internal enforcement bills to pass.
I kind of agree with you that the DA and CIR together will make much sense but my opinion is that theres no way in hell CIR is passing anytime soon and i dont mean just the 112 congress even next congress. I bet even democrats themselves dont want CIR as much as they may seem to. For both parties the DA makes much more sense because its young people that are going to take advantage of this while the CIR will cover immigrants of all ages and to me all senators are saying under their breaths we dont want old immigrants (no offense to older dreamers) we want the young ones that are going to college and getting degrees. I think obama has to give in an throw the border bill republicans originally asked for and not the half-assed bill he gave to secure the boreders and then tag the DA to it. Theres alot of signs saying that the economy will pick up on 2011 and also alot of republicans are becoming more aware of the damage their doing to their party by abusing us dreamers ...maybe they'll wake up and realize the consequences that could come during the next election I could only hope tho.
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#9
01-01-2011, 08:27 PM
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I plan on leaving in 2 years anyways, but my family lives in North Carolina. If South Carolina passes something like this I fear the Northern state will, too.
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#10
01-01-2011, 10:34 PM
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mikesandy
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The fundamental problem is that our country is still very polarized. Maryland (the state I live in) proposes it's own DREAM Act which will eventually get passed in 2011, while other states are going in the completely opposite direction.

It's almost like you're living in a different country if you used to live in Maryland, then go to a state like South Carolina, where everything is completely different (except the time zone). That is why immigration is something that creates political gridlock, just like health care reform. You have some desperate people in power that will do what ever it takes to not get this passed, while you have people out there who have the opposite view.
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