California Conservative

While measures designed to crack down on illegal immigration remain stalled in Congress, the problems caused by insecure borders, lack of law enforcement, and non-existent political will remain. However, rather than wait for the federal government to act, a number of states are stepping forward and addressing the illegal immigration problem head on.

As reported in 30 states crack down on illegal workers, a number of state legislatures are enacting laws to crack down on employers who continue to hire illegal aliens. According to the story, “The National Conference of State Legislatures has recorded at least 57 state laws enacted to make it harder for undocumented workers to find jobs or receive public services.”

Some examples of these new laws include a Colorado measure passed in June which “prohibits awarding state contracts to businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. ” Another law passed in Georgia in April “has a phased-in requirement that public employers and government contractors and subcontractors verify information on newly hired workers through a federal program.”

In addition to the measure passed in June, the Colorado legislature on Monday passed a bill that would “force a million people receiving state or federal aid to verify their citizenship.” The story, running in USA Today, notes that the legislation “would deny most non-emergency state benefits to illegal immigrants 18 years old and older — forcing people to prove legal residency when applying for benefits or renewing their eligibility.”

Colorado Republicans, while happy to see something come from the legislature, feel that Governor Owens let them down by failing to produce a ballot measure for voters this fall.

As a sign that illegal immigration is one of the key hot-button issues going into the fall elections, the Colorado bill passed the state House by a vote of 48-15 and the state Senate by a vote of 22-13. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats.

President Bush appears to be getting the message as well. In a recent speech, the president noted the importance of enforcing employment laws:

I’m strongly for a comprehensive immigration policy, one that enforces the border. And we’re doing that by expanding agents and putting new technologies on our border. But part of a comprehensive immigration plan is to make sure we have interior enforcement, that we uphold our laws, and say to employers, it’s against the law for you to hire somebody here illegally; we intend to fine you when we catch you doing it. But we’ve got to get the employers the tools to make sure that the people who are here are here legally.

There is also growing sentiment that the stronger House immigration bill (which focus more on border security) is the one that is more in line with the will of the American public. We must address the security issues of a porous border before we move on to other things. Security comes first, and to delay it because of politics is just wrong.

We must continue to stand strong on this issue and let Washington know that America wants real reform which focuses on border security, enforcement of existing laws, and no amnesty. The longer Washington delays, the more important it will be for states to come forward with measures of their own. Thankfully, many appear to be doing just that.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin: “Meanwhile, Back On Our Homefront”

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Bobby Eberle is President and CEO of GOPUSA, a company dedicated to promoting the grassroots conservative philosophy through the distribution of political news, information, and commentary via the Internet and special events.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 5:26 am and is filed under Culture, Domestic Policies, Economy, Immigration, Mexico, Washington, DC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.