Immigration

Oklahoma’s new anti-illegal immigration law, the strictest such legislation in the country, continues to draw opposition as Hispanic people, according to some, leave the state in droves.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit claiming House Bill 1804, passed last year by the legislature, interferes with federal law. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include The State Chamber of Oklahoma, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Tulsa Metro Chamber, Oklahoma Restaurant Association and Oklahoma Hotel and Lodging Association.

The bill denies state services to illegal immigrants and forces businesses to verify the immigration status of their employees. Ultimately, the bill can be seen as a legal crackdown on businesses, which employ illegal immigrants. Many of the state’s illegal immigrants are Hispanic and work in construction and at restaurants.

In a statement issued about the lawsuit, the chamber argues that “piecemeal immigration laws are not the answer, and that Congress needs to enact comprehensive federal immigration reform."

It is unclear if the chamber lawsuit can be successful. An earlier lawsuit based on a constitutional challenge has been dismissed.

Meanwhile, state Rep. David Braddock (D-Altus), pictured right, said he will introduce legislation this session to repeal provisions of the law, according to media reports. Braddock said farmers and business in his district are suffering financially because “a lot of the labor force just picked up and left — legal and illegal” after the bill was passed.

Braddock told a reporter: "They're absolutely afraid of staying here. They think Oklahoma doesn't want them. I don't think that's what Oklahoma is about.” But Braddock conceded his bill stands little chance of being considered.

Meanwhile, the sponsor of HB 1804, state Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore) said the opponents of the bill are promoting “modern-day slavery.” But this leaves out the fact that those seeking work here are often impoverished and cannot find jobs in their home countries. Should we send them back to live in poverty? So the “dialogue” goes on the issue.

There are no reliable figures on how many illegal and legal immigrants have left the state. Anecdotal evidence from Hispanic organizations, businesses who serve the Hispanic community and construction industry spokespeople suggests there has been a substantial exodus. This is problematic for the state’s economic development and its image. It makes the state seem intolerant. The bill also puts Oklahoma at a disadvantage economically with some surrounding states.

As I argued earlier, strong opposition to the bill has come mainly after it was passed. All the problems created by the bill—lack of workers for farming and construction, for example—were accurately predicted over the last two years.

Most people agree that illegal immigration is a problem in this country, but it remains a federal issue. Here are some of the questions: What impact do illegal immigrants have on wages in this country? How do we document the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country? How much money will it cost to find and possibly even arrest all of the nation’s illegal immigrants? How can Mexico improve its economy? How do we rationally and logically—not just symbolically with a wall or border fence—improve border security?

One of the main problems is the fracture between pro-business and law-and-order Republicans over the issue of a guest worker program. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, for example, has supported a guest worker program for illegal immigrants in the past, but the law-and-order wing will not budge on the issue. All this drama is now played out in the state as both sides hurl “modern-day slavery” and “racism” charges at each other.

Ultimately, though, Oklahoma is only hurting itself with this new law. Typical.

The Daily Oklahoman published an editorial today urging state Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore) to slow down with new plans to create a “son of 1804,” which would require more reporting of illegal immigrants from educators.

But the editorial (“Slow down: Too soon for more immigration law,” November 12, 2007) will not make a bit of difference, and its writer knows it. The newspaper’s editorial page has been supporting right-wing Republican politicians like Terrill for years. The newspaper created the playing field for Terrill and politicians like U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe.

It does not matter how crazy these politicians get or how much they embarrass the state. We can go from Terrill’s “son of 1804” to Coburn’s “rampant” lesbianism in schools to Inhofe’s global warming is a “hoax." These three Republican politicians get a free ride from the state’s largest newspaper.

Terrill authored House Bill 1804, which the legislature passed last year by a large margin. The anti-illegal immigration law, which makes it against the law to help undocumented workers and denies them state aid, went into effect recently. It is often called one of the strictest such laws in the country. Terrill now says he will propose additional laws, which he calls “son of 1804.” The proposed law would require state schools to keep better reporting records on illegal immigrants and allow law enforcement to seize assets used to help illegal immigrants.

The latest editorial makes this big claim: “Unfortunately, Rep. Randy Terrill is too excited about publicity over what some are calling the nation's toughest immigration law.“ But that is really the only criticism in the entire editorial. So Terrill is “too excited,” huh? Can you imagine what the rhetorical verbiage would be in an editorial going after a Democrat with whom the newspaper did not agree?

The editorial talks about Terrill “promising even more such reform.” Note the word “reform” here. How can you consistently call something “reform,” and then oppose it? It is either “reform,” or it is not. Those who oppose Terrill’s agenda do not see his actions as reform. They see them as misguided, if not hateful and mean-spirited.

(Okie Funk again dedicates Steve Earle's song "City of Immigrants" to state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, who authored House Bill 1804, the anti-illegal immigration bill wreaking havoc in Oklahoma right now. Give it a listen. Turn up the speakers.)

It may sound like a parody, but the “son of 1804 bill” is coming to Oklahoma this next legislative session, according to state Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore). But this is no Saturday Night Live skit, folks.

Terrill, who authored House Bill 1804, which gave Oklahoma some of the strictest anti-illegal immigration laws in the nation, has started publicly calling his next initiative “son of 1804 bill” in a political stunt that can only be viewed as calculated and mean-spirited. People’s lives are at stake here. Maybe we should ditch the colorful nomenclature.

The new laws essentially make it illegal for anyone to help an undocumented person and cuts off state aid to anyone here illegally. Under Terrill’s new, proposed initiatives, English would become the state’s official language, law enforcement agencies could seize assets used to help undocumented workers and school districts would have to provide more extensive reporting on students here illegally.

Terrill, pictured right, is sure to have support in the legislature for his measure. Let’s face it. Terrill is on a roll. The Daily Oklahoman, which has editorialized against HB 1804, recently ran a story that called Terrill’s new initiatives “reforms.” As long as the newspaper clings to GOP rhetoric in its news columns about this issue, its editorial stance will fall on deaf ears. The newspaper tries to have it both ways. It gives Terrill plenty of news space for his initiatives under the rhetorical frame of “reform” and then criticizes this so-called “reform.”

Where all this is going to lead the state is the Mississippi Burning question. Certainly, undocumented workers are not welcome here. It would be personally unethical (and perhaps illegal) to encourage someone here illegally to stay in Oklahoma. The local Catholic Diocese and other religious leaders have called the new laws “immoral,” but it was too little and far too late to have any meaningful impact. The loss of undocumented workers in the state will, of course, affect the business and agricultural communities. That is a certainty. How much effect will it have? It is really anyone’s guess at this point.

Where was everyone some two years ago when the first anti-immigration bill was introduced? (It was later killed.) Some of us were personally attacked for our stances against the measure back then. Since then, many others have stepped forward to argue for a reasonable approach to the illegal immigration problem, which is a federal issue. But this is mostly after the fact.

One looming question is whether the new and proposed laws will decimate the Hispanic community in the state. All local Hispanic people, citizens and others, have a right to be worried about racial profiling at this point, not just by law enforcement agencies, but also by some of their neighbors and maybe even educators in days to come. This is most unfortunate. It is ugly and unnecessary.

There are more reasonable ways to fix the illegal-immigration problem, which is a very real and important problem. But it all starts on the federal level. Oklahoma does not exist in a vacuum. Our new laws solve nothing on a larger scale when it comes to the millions of undocumented workers in this country. Meanwhile, the new laws make the state seem intolerant and unwelcoming.