Pale Rider
12-04-2007, 06:45 PM
Absent Federal Reform, States Increasingly Tackling Immigration
The Dallas Morning News : November 30 , 2007 -- by DIANNE SOLIS
Immigration-related legislation tripled in state legislatures this year, reflecting growing worry and rancor over enforcement and assimilation of the foreign-born, according to a new report released Thursday by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"The federal government has left a real void in not enacting immigration reform," said Sheri Steisel, federal affairs counsel for the conference. "The states are often left holding the financial and, now, the policy bag."
And the legislation covered the gamut, Ms. Steisel emphasized -- from Texas measures that protect victims of human trafficking to Arizona measures to yank business licenses if a firm is caught hiring a worker without proper immigration papers.
In all, 1,562 pieces of legislation were introduced in all 50 states in 2007. Of those, 244 became law, and many became targets of litigation.
That has only spiked frustration among the state legislatures group over the failure of federal lawmakers to overhaul the nation's complicated immigration laws, Ms. Steisel said.
In January, for example, a new Arizona state law will crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens -- something already in federal law. But the state measure differs in two ways: Employers will be required to use a federal database known as E-Verify to check the validity of Social Security numbers. And if the state finds they are in violation, their business licenses can be suspended.
In Illinois, Ms. Steisel noted, the state has passed a law to prohibit businesses from using the E-Verify database because of concerns about its accuracy.
"And both [measures] are in courts," Ms. Steisel said.
The E-Verify database is the new name of a federal system formerly called Basic Pilot, in which businesses could voluntarily check Social Security numbers. More than 31,000 businesses have signed up for the system. The failed immigration overhaul in Congress would have made use of the system mandatory.
The report looked at legislation dealing with all aliens, authorized and unauthorized, and those classified as migrants and refugees.
The greatest number of laws dealt with the types of work documents that can be accepted as proof of legal status.
Nationwide, 73 new laws now deal with employment verification issues, Social Security numbers, and state-issued driver's licenses or identification cards, according to the report by the conference of state legislatures.
Those measures generally cracked down on illegal aliens, though some new laws are designed to go after human traffickers, according to the report.
Texas enacted eight measures. Among them was a law that says if a non-U.S. citizen is convicted of a misdemeanor involving family violence -- and that person pleads guilty -- the charge may result in deportation, the exclusion from admission to the U.S. or the denial of naturalization under federal law, according to the report.
One measure commemorates the Dallas mega-march in 2006, in which aliens and their supporters marched by the tens of thousands in downtown Dallas for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.
http://www.numbersusa.com/news?ID=9275
The Dallas Morning News : November 30 , 2007 -- by DIANNE SOLIS
Immigration-related legislation tripled in state legislatures this year, reflecting growing worry and rancor over enforcement and assimilation of the foreign-born, according to a new report released Thursday by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"The federal government has left a real void in not enacting immigration reform," said Sheri Steisel, federal affairs counsel for the conference. "The states are often left holding the financial and, now, the policy bag."
And the legislation covered the gamut, Ms. Steisel emphasized -- from Texas measures that protect victims of human trafficking to Arizona measures to yank business licenses if a firm is caught hiring a worker without proper immigration papers.
In all, 1,562 pieces of legislation were introduced in all 50 states in 2007. Of those, 244 became law, and many became targets of litigation.
That has only spiked frustration among the state legislatures group over the failure of federal lawmakers to overhaul the nation's complicated immigration laws, Ms. Steisel said.
In January, for example, a new Arizona state law will crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens -- something already in federal law. But the state measure differs in two ways: Employers will be required to use a federal database known as E-Verify to check the validity of Social Security numbers. And if the state finds they are in violation, their business licenses can be suspended.
In Illinois, Ms. Steisel noted, the state has passed a law to prohibit businesses from using the E-Verify database because of concerns about its accuracy.
"And both [measures] are in courts," Ms. Steisel said.
The E-Verify database is the new name of a federal system formerly called Basic Pilot, in which businesses could voluntarily check Social Security numbers. More than 31,000 businesses have signed up for the system. The failed immigration overhaul in Congress would have made use of the system mandatory.
The report looked at legislation dealing with all aliens, authorized and unauthorized, and those classified as migrants and refugees.
The greatest number of laws dealt with the types of work documents that can be accepted as proof of legal status.
Nationwide, 73 new laws now deal with employment verification issues, Social Security numbers, and state-issued driver's licenses or identification cards, according to the report by the conference of state legislatures.
Those measures generally cracked down on illegal aliens, though some new laws are designed to go after human traffickers, according to the report.
Texas enacted eight measures. Among them was a law that says if a non-U.S. citizen is convicted of a misdemeanor involving family violence -- and that person pleads guilty -- the charge may result in deportation, the exclusion from admission to the U.S. or the denial of naturalization under federal law, according to the report.
One measure commemorates the Dallas mega-march in 2006, in which aliens and their supporters marched by the tens of thousands in downtown Dallas for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.
http://www.numbersusa.com/news?ID=9275