Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Arizona Senate Committee Passed Bills Targeting Illegal Immigrants By Revoking Citizenship, Education And Housing

Anti-immigrant bills now headed for full senate debate.

By H. Nelson Goodson
February 23, 2011

Phoenix, Arizona - On Tuesday, the state Senate Judiciary Committee passed several bills targeting undocumented immigrants living in public housing, collecting public benefits, undocumented students attending public schools and illegals working in the state. The first bill dealing with housing, education and public benefits passed with a vote of 7-6. The second bill that was passed earlier on a vote of 8-5 and targets automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented parents living in Arizona. The state citizenship bill challenges the interpretation of the 14th Amendment to automatically become a citizen, if born in the jurisdiction of the U.S. The citizenship bill is expected to be challenged and will probably end up in U.S. Supreme Court. The case will most likely cost the state millions to defend. The bills were sponsored by Senator Russell Pearce (R) who believes it would save millions of taxpayer dollars for Arizona.
Pearce previously sponsored the stalled SB 1070 law known as an immigration enforcement bill that allowed law enforcement officials to inspect the legal status of people suspected of being in Arizona illegally. The law has been challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice and has been stalled in federal court. A federal judge block major provisions from being enforced making it useless.
The recent bills approved by the senate committee will require school officials to confirm the legal status of students and report illegals to authorities, make it a crime for illegals to drive in the state including 30 days in jail and confiscation of vehicle, public agencies would be required to verify the legal satus of residents at public housing and evict illegals, businesses forced to use the federal E-Vertify or get their license suspended, illegals caught using false documents to work face a mandatory 6 months in jail.
The bills now go before the full Arizona state senate for debate.
Earlier in the week, Senate Bill 1405 or hospital bill that would require hospital officials and doctors to report undocumented immigrants seeking treatment to law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement was killed due to major protests by members of the medical profession that spoke against it.

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

No comments: