Audio clip
Muzaffar Chishti
Tennessee is one of the top 10 states in introducing immigration-related bills in 2007, an online database of the 50 state legislatures shows.
“Despite various times in history where states have tried or regulated immigrants in their jurisdiction, historically immigration has fundamentally been seen as a federal responsibility,” said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute office at the New York University School of Law, in a teleconference Monday.
The Migration Policy Institute, an independent think tank in Washington, D.C., put together the database, which was released Monday, with a research team at the New York University School of Law.
Legislators in the 50 states introduced a total of 1,059 immigration-related bills and resolutions in 2007, of which 167, or 16 percent, were enacted into law, according to database. Out of the 83 bills introduced in Tennessee, only five passed and 72 are pending, the database shows.
In 1996, Congress gave states more leeway in regulating public benefits and more opportunities to get engaged in the enforcement of immigration laws, Mr. Chishti said. Those powers ramped up even further after 9/11, when the federal government asked states to get more involved in immigration enforcement, he said.
Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, said one of the main reasons why so few bills passed in Tennessee is because illegal immigration is a relatively new issue.
“If you look back in history, illegal immigration is not very old, so a lot of times the first bills are — I would say we pull the trigger a little quick,” he said, “and we want to make sure we are constitutional, that we don’t violate human, as well as constitutional rights.”
In Georgia, only 10 bills were introduced, out of which four passed and six are pending. Immigration advocates and the Migration Policy Institute attribute the low number of bills introduced in part to Georgia’s Security and Immigration Compliance Act, passed in 2006.
The act covers areas including health care, public benefits, employment and immigration enforcement.
“(The bill) carried a lot of components of some of the piece-meal bills that are being passed around the country,” said Jerry Gonzalez, director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “That being said, there weren’t many further options other than targeting businesses further for the Georgia legislation to do, and they still haven’t done that.”
Mr. Chishti said Tennessee probably had more bills introduced than Georgia in 2007 because Tennessee was catching up.
“Georgia was kind of done with what they had to do in 2006, therefore you (probably) saw less activity in 2007 in Georgia than in Tennessee,” he said.
Remziya Suleyman, policy coordinator with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the coalition is optimistic that Tennessee will see a shift in its policies. She would like to see a move away from policies that demand English-only laws and programs that train local and state law enforcement to enforce immigration laws, to ones that help immigrants learn English, an initiative being proposed in Illinois, she said.
“We are very optimistic that new policies for integration (will be) presented instead of punitive policies,” she said. “We believe the Legislature is seeing the unintended consequences of these bills.”
Perla Trevizo joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 and covers immigration/diversity issues and higher education. She holds a master’s degree in newswire journalism from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas. In 2011 she participated in the Bringing Home the World international reporting fellowship program sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, producing a series on Guatemalan immigrants for which she ...
How totally untrue that Tennesseans and Americans in general are anything less than outraged about illegal immigration. Illegal aliens are in direct competition with Americans and legal residents for jobs, and illegal aliens receive free health care, education, and all type of benefits at taxpayer expense. Many of these benefits are obtained through fraud, and with stolen identities and social security numbers of American citizens. Now we learn that illegal aliens are a part of the subprime mortgage scandal that Americans will again be required to foot the bill in the billions. News reports reveal that through the "Community Reinvestment Act" and with the help of groups like ACORN,Citibank, Wells Fargo (Celebrate Home), illegal aliens without credit, without a consistent history of employment, without proof of identity have stepped in to receive below market interest rates, often with no requirement for insurance, and often with some type of down payment assistance, something that most Americans who dream to own a home could never receive. Illegal aliens will again profit, and citizen taxpayers will get stuck with the bill. There must be greater attempts at legislation to stop those here illegally from fraudulent voting, to stop them from receiving entitlements through fraud, to stop them from taking jobs and lowering wages. Enforcement must increase, employers must face criminal charges for aiding and abetting and ignoring the law. With the free government program, E Verify, screening for legality can begin. With SAVE, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, states and localities can screen to see who is entitled to receive benefits and services. Law Enforcement can partner with Dept. of Homeland Security and ICE through programs like 287g, CAP (Criminal Alien Program), and ACCESS. Senators, Representatives, Mayors, City Councils, County Commissions must address the continuing destruction that is illegal immigration and be held accountable by the only people legally able to vote, citizens of the United States. Vote out those who betray our nation and devalue the gift of citizenship. And if 850 billion can be found to bail out Wall Street and risky lenders, then surely the money to finish the fence and protect our borders is available, we just need the same urgent actions of the Administration and Congress.
The illegals even have spokeswomen and other whining organizations to speak for them and their "rights"...as if they had any.
Real immigrants -- the honest ones who legally arrive here -- are always welcome. They formed our country's roots, after all. Trouble is, all those illegals are giving them a bad name.
We need laws similar to those passed by Arizona and OKed by the 9th Circuit -- the most liberal court in the land. Arizona requires employers to verify citizenship of all employees and has stiff fines for those who knowingly hire illegals -- no construction work, day-job pick up points with sun screens to be found.
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