Real Immigration Reform

The Obama Justice Department seems to believe that their mandate is to support not only illegal immigration, but to prosecute any border agent who successfully stops an incursion. They have now thumbed their nose at the GOP controlled congress for attempting to investigate Obama-aided gun running to the Mexican cartels.

Again, the US Constitution has become an inconvenient document that the Obama Administration has chosen to ignore. This question has to be asked, how long will the American voter allow the poison of political correctness to leech away their freedoms and their prosperity? We really do not need more immigration control bills, what we need is the vigorous enforcement of the laws already in place to protect our border.

Unfortunately, not one member of our congress seems to have the courage to do that. So what do we do? When congress fails to enact one of more of the 18 enumerated powers given to it through the Constitution, it is left to the states to pick up the slack. A few states have done so and have been promptly sued by Washington for their trouble. What the papers will not tell you is that every state enacting immigration reform has experienced a positive impact on their budgets.

 I wager if you take the time to call them and ask that question you will get some form of boilerplate evasion. My reception was considerably colder. The Democrats and their media supporters see every illegal as a potential vote…regardless of what the constitution or what federal immigration law says. The sad part is that too many Republicans see them as cheap labor, far cheaper than even the minimum wage teenagers their constituents have as children. Even more unfortunate is that our Washington administration sees them as eventual soldiers for the revolution.

Read the text of this 2007 bill and then ask your representative why such a bill would bankrupt the country. You see, that is what my fellow Republicans told me it would do. The Democrats consider it a violation of the Constitution, yet I cannot find any text or context that gives our protections to those who violate our border. What I do see is that the bankruptcy is already happening because the current administration is actively waging a legislative war against this country.

Immigration Bill Draft Summary

Bob Beers, Assembly District 21, Nevada, 2007

SECTION 1:  TITLE.

• Creates the Nevada Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2009.

SECTION 2:  FINDINGS.

• Legislative statement of intent that failure to enforce immigration law harms the safety and welfare of citizens and legal residents of Nevada.
• Declaration that the State has a compelling interest in insuring that government agencies and employers fully cooperate in the compliance with and enforcement of federal immigration law.

SECTION 3:  FELONY TRANSPORTATION & HARBORING OF AN ILLEGAL ALIEN.

• Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to move, transport, or attempt to transport persons known to be illegal aliens within Nevada.
• Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection in any place within the State persons known to be illegal aliens.
• Provides an exception for the transportation or harboring of illegal aliens if it’s associated with the provision of any benefit guaranteed to illegal aliens by federal law, or regulated public health services provided by a private charity with private funds.

SECTION 4:  LAWFUL PRESENCE TEST FOR DRIVERS LICENSE & ID CARD

  APPLICANTS.

• Restricts eligibility for state driver’s licenses and identity cards to citizens, nationals, and legal immigrants. 
• Allows legally present nonimmigrants to be issued temporary licenses and ID cards valid only for the period for which the nonimmigrant has been admitted to the U.S.
• Provides an exception for schools IDs, as long as the school ID clearly states that the document is only valid for identification purposes at the institution where it was issued.

SECTION 5:  VERIFICATION OF CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION STATUS OF

  PERSONS ARRESTED.

• Requires jail officials to attempt to verify the citizenship or immigration status of any person arrested or confined through the federal Law Enforcement Support Center operated by U.S. DHS.
• Requires foreign nationals who have not been lawfully admitted to the U.S. to be deemed a flight risk for bond determination purposes.

SECTION 6:  DEFINITIONS.

• Defines the terms “status verification system”, “public employer”, “subcontractor” and “unauthorized alien” for the purposes of Section 7.

SECTION 7:  VERIFICATION OF WORK AUTHORIZATION BY PUBLIC EMPLOYERS,

  CONTRACTORS & SUBCONTRACTORS.

• Requires all public employers to register and participate in one of two federally implemented verification systems to verify federal employment authorization of new employees.
• Prohibits public employers from contracting for services with contractors who do not participate in a verification system to verify the status of all new employees after July 1, 2008.
• Prohibits contractors or subcontractors from entering into contracts with public employers unless they participate in a verification system to verify the status of all new employees after July 1, 2008.
• States that it’s a discriminatory practice for an employing entity to discharge a US citizen or legal resident alien while retaining an illegal alien, hired after July 1, 2008, in a comparable job as the discharged employee. In order for such a discharge to be considered a violation of this section, the employer had to know, or reasonably should have known, that the retained employee was illegal.
• Any employer using a status verification system to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires after July 1, 2008 is exempt from any liability arising from this section.
• No cause of action for violating this section can be brought against an employer, unless it arises from the provisions of this section.

SECTION 8:  VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL IMMIGRATION STATUS FOR STATE &

  LOCAL PUBLIC BENEFITS.

• Requires all state and local agencies to verify lawful presence of applicants for state or local public benefits using the federal SAVE system.
• Provides exceptions for certain emergency and humanitarian public services designated by the U.S. Attorney General.

SECTION 9:  WITHHOLDING OF INCOME TAX FOR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORSWITHOUT VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.

• Requires individual independent contractors to show their contracting entity documentation to verify employment authorization, or the contracting entity must withhold federal income tax at the top marginal income tax rate.
• Any contracting entity who fails to do this is liable for the taxes that should have been withheld.
• This section applies only to business relationships between individual independent contractors and contracting entities, not employees and employers.

SECTION 10:  COOPERATIVE IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT BY STATE & LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

• Authorizes the State Attorney General to negotiate a memo of understanding between Nevada and the Department of Justice or Homeland Security regarding enforcement of federal immigration law in Nevada.
• Prohibits any local government in this state from passing an ordinance or law restricting the ability of a law enforcement officer or government employee to communicate or cooperate with federal officials regarding the immigration status of anyone in the state.
• Prohibits any government official or entity in the state from restricting another official, entity, or public employee in the state from sending or receiving information regarding the immigration status of any individual to or from the Department of Homeland Security.
• Establishes a private right of action for any individual in this state to file for a writ of mandamus against any local or state government agency not cooperating with the provisions of this section.

SECTION 11:  GENERAL PROHIBITION ON ELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

   FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS.

• Prohibits individuals not lawfully present in the country from receiving postsecondary education benefits or resident tuition.
• Provides an exception per the provisions of Section 13.
• States that the provisions of this section do not apply to any student enrolled in a college for the 2006-2007 school year or any prior year who received resident tuition per current law.

SECTION 12:  ESTABLISHING A FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS IDENTIFICATION UNIT

   AT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

• Contingent upon funding, DPS shall establish a Fraudulent Documents Identification Unit.

SECTION 13:  SPECIFIC PROHIBITION ON ELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

   FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS.

• Allows a person without legal citizen status to enroll in an institution of higher education and receive resident tuition, only if they have:

Ø  Graduated from a state high school;

Ø  Resided in the state with a parent or legal guardian while attending a state high school for at least two years before graduation;

Ø  Met the admissions requirements of the college;

Ø  Provided the college with a copy of a filed and pending application or petition for legal status; or

Ø  Provided the college with an affidavit that they will file such an application as soon as they are eligible, but in no case later than one year from the date that a process for legalization is available to them;

Ø  If such an affidavit is filed, they have to provide the college with a copy of a filed and pending application or petition for legal status no later than one year from the date that a process for legalization became available to them.

Ø  Provided documentation of legal immigrant status.

• No student shall have to meet additional conditions for resident tuition who qualified for resident tuition per the provisions of a previous version of this law during the 2006-2007 school year or any prior year.

SECTION 14:  EFFECTIVE DATE.

• Effective date – October 1, 2009.