A Law Worth Passing

By James S. Tyree
CNHI News Service

OKLAHOMA CITY — For most teenagers, getting their driver's license means they have arrived.

That feeling was deeper for Maria Karalus-Hass, now 20, than most would ever know.

After living several years in the United States illegally, she became a legal resident last August - a status that gives her in-state college tuition, a gateway to better-paying jobs and yes, her driver’s license.

“Oh, it was the biggest relief,” said the Midwest City resident from Venezuela.

Though all her family members are now legal residents, Karalus-Hass still bristles at the idea of illegal immigrants draining public resources and taking jobs from Americans.

“To hear the stories, I mean, wow - we don’t leech off the country,” she said.

But people like Tom Roach say they do. The Coalition to End Taxpayer Subsidies for Illegal Aliens says tightening laws against illegal immigrants is needed not only at the federal level, but also in Oklahoma.

“The state of Oklahoma provides an outrageous pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the alien who comes here in violation of the law,” he said. “… A free people cannot have laws and governors who allow one class of people free rein to violate the law.”

The debate over how to cut illegal immigration and what to do about immigrants already here is raging throughout the nation and in Oklahoma. The lightning rod in the Sooner State is House Bill 3119.

The legislation, written and championed by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving public entitlements like food stamps and Medicaid. It also requires state employees outside of education to report illegal immigrants to a law enforcement agency.

Passion for and against state legislation has prompted two rallies outside the state Capitol this weekend. Groups and individuals opposing the legislation will meet noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a rally organized by Roach’s coalition at 3 p.m. Sunday.

An estimated 10 million to 12 million people live illegally in the United States, including tens of thousands in Oklahoma. The U.S. Census estimates 135,000 foreign-born people living in Oklahoma in 2004, but that figure includes legal and illegal residents.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 1.24 million illegal immigrants were apprehended in 2004. Though they came from nearly 200 countries, about 1.1 million, or 92 percent, came from Mexico.

McAlester police have seen the movement first hand, stopping vehicles filled with illegal immigrants twice in March. Chief Jim Lyles said a police team began monitoring Highway 69 for drug trafficking a few months ago and the project happened to net the two stops.

Neither vehicle had drugs but in the most recent case, a truck was filled with 17 people.

“It doesn’t mean the influx has gone up," Lyles said. "We’re just more aware of it now.”

Terrill’s HB 3119 has other sections that require proof of citizenship or legal residence to get a government-issued ID or to vote, authorizes state and local law enforcement agents to detain illegal immigrants longer until federal agents arrive and repeals a 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition and state-sponsored financial aid.

HB 3119 passed the House but won’t get a hearing in the Senate, effectively killing the bill, because co-author Sen. Jeff Rabon, D-Hugo, pulled the bill in committee. Terrill and others say the senator caved to direct or indirect political pressure but Rabon said no.

“We were about to ask agencies to become border control agents - education, medical facilities, Department of Human Services, and on and on, election board offices,” Rabon said. “I’m not so sure they were ready to handle it. I didn’t see any other resources available to them to do that. It was too much, too quick, quite frankly, for me.”

Another failed bill introduced this year, HB 2613, would have required all public employees except emergency personnel to report suspected illegal immigrants.

Terrill’s provisions are far from dead. He is talking with Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, about adding sections of HB 3119 into the senator’s bill. SB 1769 would establish an anti-illegal immigration unit within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

If parts of HB 3119 are added to Corn’s bill, the House and Senate could vote on them sometime in May. Regardless of what happens this year, Terrill said stopping illegal immigration has become a state priority.

“If the federal government will not do its job of protecting our nation’s borders, then it’s clear that the states not only can … but we must and we will,” Terrill said. “The second reason is I am convinced illegal aliens will not come here if there are no jobs waiting on them, and they will not stay here if there is not government subsidy.”

Terrill said the Health Care Authority this week reported illegal immigrants received $7.8 million of Medicaid benefits last year. He didn’t know about the cost to other programs like food stamps.

“In addition to the taxpayer subsidy to the presence of illegal aliens, I do think, in fact, their presence here illegally, as productive as they may be, is a problem,” Terrill said. “The reason why is … that it creates a whole underground economy.”

That economy, he said, drives down wages for jobs Americans would otherwise do for more money.

Cora Curtis, a Choctaw woman who supports the tougher legislation, believes supporting illegal immigrants hurts most people, whether they are taxpayers, low-income Americans, or the immigrants themselves being exploited.

Curtis said she empathizes with people wanting a better life. She is active in a church that sponsors impoverished people, and the small construction and engineering company her husband runs hires immigrants - as long as they’re here legally.

“I do know what it’s like to be poor,” she said. “You have to help, not hinder. We sponsor people and we hire people as long as they obey our laws. It’s un-Christian to hinder them in any way, as long as they obey our laws.”

But many illegal immigrants believe they have no choice. Shirley Cox, an immigration attorney and spokesperson for Catholic Charities, said it could take years for someone to emigrate legally.

“We have a system that allocates a certain number of visas in certain categories, and these categories are all backlogged,” she said. “There are not enough visas and each year you can fall further and further behind.”

Of those categories, the longest wait is for legal residents applying for a visa for a spouse, child under 21 or unmarried son or daughter. The three categories for U.S. citizens applying for someone can involve a lengthy wait, but not as long.

Karalus-Hass gained legal residency last year. She said her father had a well-paying job with IBM and a visa to work in the United States. When President Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela, though, the family felt it was time to get out.

They entered the country with legal documents that, except for her dad’s case, eventually expired. Without a valid driver’s license or social security card, Karalus-Hass said, it was difficult to find work, get around and pay for college. She even won a prestigious scholarship taken away when she couldn’t show proof of legal residence.

Her mother borrowed and they all worked to pay about $10,000 in fees and fines to become legal. Karalus-Hass now enjoys the peace of mind of being a legal resident, but she remains concerned about how many view illegal immigrants.

“I think what concerns me is they’re making illegal immigrants out to be a threat,” she said. “They’re not being realistic. Most illegal immigrants are too terrified to apply for anything. It’s not an option for them.

“Where is the fear," she said, "when they’re not taking anything except jobs so demeaning that people on welfare do not accept (them) and the housing is very, very substandard, below the poorest American family? So they shouldn’t feel threatened.”

Corn, whose immigration bill is still alive, said he understands people wanting to come to this country or state to find a better life. The senator said the state must play a role in stopping illegal immigration within its borders.

“The bottom line for Oklahomans is they want everybody to live under the same rules and pay the same taxes and meet the same criteria as every other Oklahoman has to meet,” Corn said. “I think that’s the bottom line.”