TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — For all the fear and consternation the state's new immigration law has created, its bark is bigger than its bite, according to local legislators.

"It's a do-nothing, political bill," said Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah. "It has created a lot of fear and that fear may have certain repercussions, but as far as illegal immigration enforcement is concerned, the bill itself merely mirrors federal laws already in place."

On May 7, Gov. Brad Henry signed the controversial Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, known as one of the strictest illegal immigration laws in the country.

The bill eliminates illegal aliens' ability to get official government identification cards, such as a driver's license or occupational license. It also prevents illegal aliens from obtaining public benefits or assistance other than what is required by federal law, such as education and emergency medical care.

Wilson sat on the task force examining the immigration issue prior to the bill's passage, and found the general public has a number of misconceptions about the benefits and the cost illegal immigrants pose the state.

"It's a sensitive issue," said Wilson. "But the task force information showed the state spent roughly $8 million on Medicaid last year, with 80 percent of that total being spent on delivering babies. The state has no control over how Medicaid is spent, as two-thirds of the funding is provided by the federal government."

Education is another area in which Wilson believes the state is losing money. He said the Legislature cannot possibly know what kind of effect immigration is having on education spending, since privacy rights of students are protected under the law.

While health care and education may have been a spending issue, Wilson said illegal immigrants have not affected the overall bottom line.

"We collect unemployment insurance, state and federal withholding taxes and Social Security [from working illegals]," he said. "Illegal immigrants are paying into these, but are unable to collect benefits. Dollar for dollar, we're making money on them."

Wilson said studies have shown the effects of illegal immigration on the earning power of legal residents is minimal. High school graduates and college graduates actually make slightly more money because of illegal workers, while those who haven't graduated from high school earn about 2 percent less than they would if all illegal workers were to suddenly disappear.

Wilson voted for the measure for two reasons: wages and the law.

"Hiring illegal immigrants depresses wages," he said. "I voted for the bill for that reason, and for the simple fact that illegal immigrants are just that - illegal, meaning against the law."

Wilson believes the only way to really affect change in illegal immigration is to sanction employers hiring undocumented workers.

"We'll see more on this in June or July of next year," he said. "We'll have more control if the job market for illegals is stopped. If you dry up the jobs, you won't need to worry about deportation -- they will leave."

Wilson said the new law presents myriad logistical problems for law enforcement.

"You can't pack up 12 million people on buses and transport them out of the country," he said. "There is not a police force in the state that's going to enforce this law, and even if they did, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] won't come and get them. It's a moot point."

One of the bill's provisions prevents undocumented students from receiving scholarships and financial aid for higher education, but allows the regents to preserve its policy giving undocumented students access to in-state tuition.

Some believe the expense to higher education may be detrimental to Oklahoma college students.

"It's a red herring, and will be used as a wedge issue by the bill's authors as we move into an election year," said Wilson. "I can tell you the result of this provision has cost the state roughly $145,000, which is chump change."

Rep. Mike Brown, D-Tahlequah, also voted for the measure, but would have liked to have seen some ideas he presented in a separate bill included. Like Wilson, he feels the law has no real muscle.

"It works if you want to put funding toward it," said Brown. "But we don't have the money to spend on real enforcement. The federal government is supposed to take care of the borders, and even the federal law has failed. U.S. Sen. [Tom] Coburn has even said as much. The federal law is putting the burden on the states, which can't afford it."

Brown believes the passage of the bill has created a larger problem when it comes to documenting workers.

"With all the fear surrounding the law, it's driven illegals underground," said Brown. "In a similar measure I proposed, I had provisions to actually make sure we have documents on workers. We don't have that process in this law. In the same piece of legislation I proposed, I had provisions to curtail underage drinking, credit card theft and identity theft."

According to a summary of H.B. 1804 compiled by Tulsa's Community Action Project, no funding was set aside by the Legislature to establish a fraudulent documents identification unit to investigate and apprehend those involved in the sale or distribution of fake IDs.

"The Commissioner of Public Safety has expressed his eagerness to create such a program to address the full range of problems associated with fraudulent documents, particularly I.D. theft," states the summary.

Brown believes Oklahoma needs some type of limited guest-worker program that would provide the necessary documentation to track immigrant workers.

"If the federal government would do its job, you wouldn't have a workforce shortage; we'd have a way to document people who want to come here and work," said Brown. "Now what we have is cheap, illegal labor, which is creating an atmosphere of animosity between those who are here legally and those who are coming here illegally to work."

Wilson indicated things would be different if people were crossing into the U.S. via its northern border.

"You can bet if we had Canadians crossing illegally, this wouldn't be an issue," said Wilson. "I hate to see this turn into a racial issue, but there it is."



H.B. 1804: Key findings

• Many sections of H.B. 1804 may either duplicate or mirror what is already in state or federal law, or simply put into statute what is already occurring in practice in the state.

• The bill does not challenge the constitutionally guaranteed right of all children to attend school and receive all educational services, regardless of legal status.

• While the bill requires verification of legal status for those applying for "public benefits," the established definition of public benefits in state and federal law is limited to certain well-defined government programs, which are already unavailable to unauthorized immigrants.

• Many private sector employers may be subject to new employer verification requirements effective July 1, 2008.

Source: Community Action Project, www.okpolicy.org, August 2007.



What's next

The final in the two-part series regarding the new immigration law will examine the effect it has on local small employers, as well as charitable organizations.