As Congress talks about immigration reform, states attempt to address the issue

June 3, 2009

Chattanooga Times Press

As Congress talks about possible immigration reform, states continue to struggle with handling the issue on their own.

“Clearly what the situation cries out for is action at the national level,” said Ken Ellinger, associate professor of political science at Dalton State College.

State legislators recognize that a comprehensive immigration solution can’t come from the state level, he said, but they are passing laws as a result of their frustration with the federal government. Lack of consensus among members of Congress has stalled efforts to pass federal legislation.

In the first quarter of 2009, state legislatures in all 50 states introduced 1,040 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and immigration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

From January through March, Tennessee has introduced 64 immigration-related bills and resolutions and Georgia brought forth 24, according to the group.

Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the organization is tracking 35 to 40 immigration-related bills.

A bill that recently passed both the House and Senate in Tennessee creates a Class A misdemeanor offense for a person to knowingly provide, transfer or submit false identification to any other person for the purposes of employment. Another bill that also passed both chambers established the “We Want To Learn English Initiative,” which requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Department of Education to establish and administer a grant program to provide resources for immigrants and refugees in Tennessee to learn English.

And today, the Senate will consider a bill — SB 1141 — that requires jailers across Tennessee to determine the legal status of every person arrested and contact the Department of Homeland Security if they believe the person is in the country illegally.

“Over the last couple of years, our state legislators have actually worked very hard to better understand these issues and make sure we weren’t passing misguided legislation that has unintended consequences for everybody,” said Mr. Fotopulos.

“The biggest danger is the bill up (today) which, instead of complementing federal immigration enforcement, it actually conflicts with President Obama’s Secure Communities Initiative by requiring local jailers to inspect immigration documents without any training, funding or infrastructure support,” he added.

In Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed three bills in May, one which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. Georgia is still awaiting word on whether it will pass muster with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Another new Georgia law prohibits sanctuary policies — basically any regulations, rules or policies which prevent local officials or employees from reporting a person’s immigration status.

This week, about 200 organizations, including the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the Coalition of Latino Leaders in Dalton and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, launched the Reform Immigration For America campaign to push for the passing of a comprehensive immigration legislation.

Additionally, the White House will hold a bipartisan meeting Monday between a group of senators and representatives and President Obama to discuss comprehensive immigration reform.

Experts and lawmakers agree, however, that states are not as focused on immigration this year because of the economy.

“For some reason ... it seemed to be on constituents’ and legislators’ minds (a lot more) a year ago and (now) we’ve had a number of other issues we need to be worrying about,” said Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga. “In an age of 9.9 percent unemployment, we need to be thinking about how to get people jobs and that’s really what should consume us.”

But the bad economy also has an effect on immigration, said Dr. Richard Wilson, political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. When jobs are not around, not as many immigrants — legal or illegal — want to come here, he said.

“We are currently on a cycle where the economic downturn has made entering the United States for economic purposes less attractive,” he said. “That may take some of the pressure off the highly emotional side of the issue and then perhaps we can take a look at the entire situation more rationally.”

Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton, who said he has voted for all the immigrant-related legislation in Georgia, would like to see stricter immigration laws.

“I think the states, certainly Georgia, and I think Tennessee, for that matter, would like to have stricter laws,” he said, “and yet it has such a federal program on it that we are not able to enact and enforce the laws at the state level to counteract (the illegal immigration problem).”

Despite continued talks on immigration reform, Dr. Ellinger said states will continue to address the issue because the federal government isn’t.

“Until the feds actually act, I’m not sure it’s going to have any effect at the state level,” he said. “Every state that perceives that it has an illegal immigrant problem is going to continue to play politics with immigration, and we’ll just keep having a patchwork of state laws where the states are totally inconsistent with each other.”