I Pity the Poor Immigrant
State legislatures have come to the same conclusion I have—-a Democrat controlled Congress is just as feckless as a GOP controlled Congress.
The recently published “Overview of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2007″ by the National Conference of State Legislatures says that as of April 13, 2007, all 50 states had introduced at least 1169 bills and resolutions concerning immigration and immigrants. This is more than twice the total number introduced in 2006 (570).
The majority of the bills addressed the following:
*149 bills were introduced mostly to restrict benefits and services, requiring proof of citizenship or legal status.
*199 bills concerned employment; some prohibiting employment of illegals with added penalties, and worker-based legislation addressing eligibility for workers’ benefits.
*129 bills addressing co-operation with federal authorites.
The balance of the bills/resolutions concerned human trafficking, legal services, licensing, voting, documentation, driver’s licenses and access to health programs. Five states (MO, NC, OK, SC & TN) have comprehensive legislative proposals under consideration.
If you have any interest in this subject at all go to the link and read the report—-it’s easy to understand and has several helpful charts. It’s a useful document which charts the direction the country is going concerning this important issue.
The states are taking the lead on this since Congress seems content to name post offices and produce political theatre.
Bravo federalism!
(h/t gr)
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“QC Examiner Hates Hare”—Quincy City Desk Blog
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You’re right about the lack of activity by this Congress as well. I had hoped for better. I personally feel more at east that we don’t have total Republican control, but they have cowered on major issues.
Then again, they can pass all the bills they want. Bush will just veto them. I guess thats why they have spent so much time trying to ride the fence.
Comment by Robbie | April 23, 2007
I was thinking that comprehensive reform on immigration would be a slam-dunk, since it is one of the few issues that GWB and the Democrat Congress agree on. I get the feeling (from Rahm Emanuel) that the Democrats don’t want to do much of anything for two years so as to not screw up their chance at POTUS and maintaining their majority in Congress.
But still, I’m happy to see more states take the lead in these major issues. I think the state legislatures saw early on that gridlock would be even worse with the Dems in majority than it was with the GOP. If you read the link, there is incredible diversity in what the states want to do concerning immigration, which only makes sense if you consider the immigration problems in AZ are probably not the same as in IL.
The main thing the feds should do is seal the borders, since it’s not so much the glut of cheap labor that concerns most of us, it’s the fact that terrorists can also easily gain entry into the country. Everything else should be left to the states, IMO.
It’s really surprising to me that there hasn’t been a tough-on-immigration POTUS candidate on the Dem side, since the glut of cheap labor hurts Dem special interest groups (unions, African-Americans) the most.
Comment by qcexaminer | April 23, 2007
One of the fastest growing voting blocs is the current immigrated and “future” immigrated Hispanic voters. Get them a license, next get them the vote. Neither side wants to alienate those votes. It is much easier to talk about change and say that the other side is blocking real progression in settling the issue. Shucky Darn, they have been playing the same dodgeball tactics with energy reform since the 1970’s. Gridlock - thy name is Republicans, Democrats and various other Scalawag Politicians seeking political gain.
Comment by thescoundrel | April 24, 2007