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Old 04-05-2011, 03:20 PM
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Default Immigration bill could be expensive "message"

Immigration bill could be expensive "message"

By Dana Beyerle
Times Montgomery Bureau
Published: Monday, April 4, 2011 at 6:45 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 4, 2011 at 6:46 p.m.
MONTGOMERY — An illegal immigration bill, the centerpiece of the Republican “Handshake with Alabama,” hits the front burner in the House Tuesday.
The bill by Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, is first on the House’s special order calendar and could tie the lower chamber up for hours if not longer.
In the end, House Republicans have the votes to send the illegal immigration bill to the Senate, but whether any House member will be swayed by local financial considerations remains to be seen.
“This legislation is designed to discourage illegal immigrants coming to Alabama and to prevent those already here putting down roots,” Hammon said Monday.
Hammon’s bill, modeled after the controversial Arizona immigration bill, would treat illegal immigrants as trespassers, subjecting them to jail and fines. Among other provisions, it makes local law enforcement officers and county employees responsible for enforcing federal immigration law.
Bobby Junkins is the probate judge in Etowah County. In that position, he performs weddings.
Although the bill is aimed at law enforcement agencies, the provision about denying local benefits to illegal immigrants has Junkins concerned. If Hammon’s bill becomes law, a man or woman seeking to tie the knot who cannot prove he or she is a legal immigrant could face penalties.
Junkins wonders aloud whether he’ll be subject to sanctions if he does not try to jail an illegal immigrant.
“It’s going to be hard to enforce,” he said. “We’ll just have to call and say, ‘come and get them’. A feel-good bill, that’s what it is.”
Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin said his jail cannot hold the illegal immigrants his and other law enforcement departments will be expected to round up.
“Who‘s going to pay or deport them?” Entrekin asked. “It will cost taxpayers more money than (them) being free on the street.”
The GOP said its “Handshake with Alabama” is an agenda of specific bills that have priority in the 2011 legislative session.
Hammon said illegal immigration has been ignored by the federal government. “We have to, at the state level, take steps to force them,” he said of federal officials.
Hammon said the bill creates a crime of trespassing for an illegal immigrant caught in Alabama. It would prohibit an illegal from being able to transact business, get a business license, a vehicle tag, a marriage license or anything a state or local government would issue.
“If they have proper identification they will be OK,” he said.
Hammon admits his bill is aimed at Washington and believes there will be a federal lawsuit — as there is over Arizona’s bill.
The Association of County Commissions of Alabama opposes the legislation because it will impose new responsibilities on county government.
ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield said a similar law considered by Kentucky was expected to jail 15,000 illegal aliens at a cost of $26 million per year.
“In its current form, there’s no reason to believe this bill could be administered at the local level,” he said. “We would have to hold every person who couldn’t prove citizenship who ran a stop sign.”
Brasfield said public officials who fail to enforce the law could be subject to fines.
Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy said among other faults, the bill imposes no criminal penalties on companies hiring illegal workers. Hammon’s bill also could cost millions in federal court costs and legal fees, Kennedy said.
“It totally fails to address the issue of illegal immigration in any meaningful way,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The immigration bill is bad public policy for many reasons, and all of them are just too expensive for Alabama taxpayers.”
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/...ts02?p=3&tc=pg
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