Liberal State Rep. in accident with suspected illegal immigrant

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Car Crash Involving Mass. Lawmaker, Suspected Illegal Immigrant Heats Up Debate
FOXNews.com
The immigration debate is heating up in Massachusetts after a suspected illegal immigrant allegedly crashed into a state lawmaker's car while driving drunk last week.
MyFoxBoston obtained police reports that show suspect Isaias Naranjo was arrested after crashing into state Rep. Mike Moran's car at 60 miles per hour and then bragging to police that they couldn't punish him.
According to the report, the suspect "just laughed, slurring that he was going to go back to 'my country' Mexico. 'Nothing is going to happen to me, man.'"
Though the suspect is being held after his blood alcohol content registered at .25, Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio told FoxNews.com that state policy prohibits police from looking into the suspect's immigration status.
That's after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick rescinded an order three years ago by his predecessor Mitt Romney that empowered state police to enforce immigration law.
Republican State Rep. Jeffrey Perry said the governor should reconsider that decision in light of the accident -- and he said the crash should also bring renewed attention to a measure he sponsored that would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.
"I feel sad that there had to be a car accident for this to happen," Perry told FoxNews.com.
Perry's benefits proposal was narrowly defeated in the Massachusetts House several weeks ago, but he said voter "pressure" could drive the Senate to reconsider.
"Massachusetts is just kind of ignoring the problem," said Perry, who is running for Congress.
Massachusetts is one of a host of states considering new immigration proposals after Arizona's legislature approved a controversial policy in April requiring state law enforcement to check the immigration status of people they suspect of being in the country illegally. The proposal has divided lawmakers across the country -- some have moved to impose boycotts on Arizona in protest of the law, while others have pledged to draft bills that replicate the law.
In the case of Naranjo, the suspect was charged with driving under the influence, driving without a valid license and leaving the scene of an accident, according to MyFoxBoston.
Patrick's aides defended the governor's decision to rescind Romney's immigration order, saying corrections officials can still pursue the immigration violation, according to MyFoxBoston.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...-heats-debate/

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Mass. Senate passes crackdown on illegal immigrants
With one lawmaker citing President Lincoln's respect for the rule of law, the Massachusetts Senate passed a far-reaching crackdown this afternoon on illegal immigrants and those who would hire them, going further, senators said, than any immigration bill proposed over the past five years.

In a surprising turn of events, the legislation replaced a narrower bill that was passed Wednesday over the objections of Republicans.

The measure, which passed on a 28-10 vote as an amendment to the budget, would bar the state from doing business with any company found to break federal laws barring illegal immigrant hiring. It would also toughen penalties for creating or using fake identification documents, and explicitly deny in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants.

The amendment would also require the state’s public health insurance program to verify residency through the Department of Homeland Security, and would require the state to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.
The amendment will now be part of negotiations with the House as part of the entire state budget.
Supporters, especially Republicans, struck patriotic notes and spoke of the sanctity of the law as they spoke on the Senate floor.

“It was President Lincoln -- and I’m going to paraphrase here -- who suggested that respect for the law should be preached from every pulpit taught by every mother to every child,” said Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.

But one supporter said that the measure was being passed for practical purposes and would hurt people.
Senator Frederick E. Berry, a Peabody Democrat, complained that one of the Republican sponsors acted like the "Patriots had just won the Super Bowl. ... I am going to vote for it, but I don’t think we ought to rejoice."
Democrats had resisted such a sweeping proposal, but spent last evening negotiating today’s measure, shortly after a new polled showed 84 percent of the liberal-leaning state’s voters supported tough immigration rules barring state services to illegal immigrants.

Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat who opposed the amendment, said the measure had not been properly vetted and would add undue obligations to businesses and state government when they could ill afford it. She said it would cost the state money, while programs for children and public safety are being cut and people in her city are being shot at.
"I just don't think this is an appropriate time to be enforcing an additional cost burden on the state, doing things that are not our job," Chang-Diaz said.
The measure would also close what supporters say is a loophole that allows businesses to register cars under a company name, without identifying the owner by Social Security number and federal tax identification number. It would also crate a toll-free hot line for anonymous reporting of companies that employ illegal immigrants.
The measure comes weeks after immigration measures failed in the House, and amid heightened debate over illegal immigration fueled by the state's election season and Arizona's passage in April of the toughest immigration law in the nation.
Recent polls have found that, while voters supported blocking illegal immigrants' access to public benefits, they were split over whether the Bay State should have a law such as Arizona's.
Thursday's Senate amendment would also authorize the state attorney general's office to broker an agreement with federal authorities to help enforce immigration law. That would be a stark departure for Attorney General Martha Coakley, who has increased outreach to immigrants, encouraging them to file employment complaints, regardless of their legal status. Scores of immigrants whose bosses allegedly failed to pay their wages have turned to her for help in recent years.
The legislation also would increase penalties for driving without a license, one of the main problems facing illegal immigrants in Massachusetts. In November, a panel commissioned by Governor Deval Patrick urged him to push to grant driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, among many other recommendations. Patrick sent the recommendations to his cabinet for study and pledged to return with a proposal in 90 days, but the results have not been made public.
Most immigrants in Massachusetts are here legally, but an estimated 190,000, or 20 percent, are here illegally, according to the census.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...enate_pas.html

[ilbegone]

Wow.

Massachusetts, of all places.

Ted Kennedy must be rolling over in his grave.