Civil Candor

Alabama has joined Arizona by passing an immigration bill that is fair to taxpayers, the best example yet of a state addressing the problem of using public money to subsidize education for illegal immigrants. As an added benefit, Alabama’s bill includes enforcement measures at least as stern as those approved by Arizona. Given the similarity of Alabama’s law to the Arizona bill, will the president greenlight another federal lawsuit, and if he does, will the GOP stand in his way?

Taxpayer-subsidized education is one of the most ignored and offensive giveaways to illegal immigrants, an abuse of public funds that amnesty proponents refuse to acknowledge. Alabama’s law does not deny education to illegals, but it requires verification of immigration status, a good first step to documenting the diversion of taxpayer resources.

Illinois taxpayers are sick of the wailing and hand-wringing in Springfield over the state’s debt crisis. Despite overwhelming financial problems, lawmakers chose to pass a state DREAM Act that mandates attendance at Illinois high schools to qualify for private college scholarship benefits. New York also faces a grim fiscal situation, grants resident tuition to illegals, and requires high school attendance to receive the benefit. The state had an illegal immigrant population of 460,000 in 2010. [1] New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke criticized the Alabama law:

I am deeply saddened and disappointed that the Governor of Alabama has decided to enact such egregious anti-immigrant provisions in order to address our broken immigration system.  Using our nation’s education system as a conduit to enforce immigration laws is highly inappropriate. [2]

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet echoed the party line in his comments on the new law:

Immigration is a federal responsibility and should not be done on a state by state piecemeal basis.  It is past time to put politics aside so we can secure our borders and address the effects of our broken immigration system. [3]

Bennet published his call for immigration reform in both English and Spanish on his Senate website:

As we work to enact comprehensive reform, we can take smaller steps to help improve the overall system, including efforts to bolster security at our borders and pass the DREAM Act, which is good for our economy, good for our national security and good for American taxpayers. [4]

The senator’s press release did not explain how giving DREAM Act citizenship to illegal immigrants is good for taxpayers or national security. Colorado state lawmakers must have different views on immigration, because they defeated the ASSET resident tuition bill in April (see: ASSET Subsidizes College for Illegals With Your Tax Dollars). If the concern is national security, then it makes sense to secure our borders, identify those who are here illegally, and remove them. If they want to come back, they can follow the same path taken by legal immigrants.

Taxpayers are fed up with giveaways that use public money to entice illegals to stay. GOP leaders need to get behind this, but they have failed to step up to the plate. The word needs to go out that public education is a taxpayer-supported benefit, whether provided in a kindergarten classroom or a college lecture hall. The Federal Government helps to fund public schools, so when states like Illinois and New York make decisions to grant concessions to illegal immigrants, all states are forced to pay.

One of John Boehner’s priorities is to make sure that no taxpayer benefits go to illegals. [5] We have seen bills that target incentives to stay, like Representative Gary Miller’s LEAVE Act (see: Miller’s Bill Would Persuade Illegal Aliens to LEAVE). The bill has been stuck in subcommittee hell since March 2009. We need to see more of this type of legislation. More important, we should be hearing calls to cut federal funding to states that provide incentives and benefits for illegal immigrants.

The president made an example of Arizona because it challenged Democrats’ insistence that the Federal Government control enforcement until an amnesty bill can be passed. If Mr. Obama takes the same action against Alabama, will Republicans act? States that encourage the diversion of taxpayer money to illegals should be held accountable. Those states responsible enough to address the problem because the Federal Government has other plans must not be punished for defending their citizens’ hard-earned dollars.

1..DHS: Office of Immigration  Statistics. Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2010. Michael Hofer, Nancy Rytina, and Bryan C. Baker. February 2011. p. 4.

2..U.S. Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke. Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke Statement Alabama’s Immigration Law. June 10, 2011. http://clarke.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=245826, retrieved June 12, 2011.

3..Michael F. Bennet. United States Senator for Colorado. Bennet Statement on New Alabama Immigration Law. June 9, 2011. http://bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=3D23BD64-9C0D-4CA5-8C7B-D084C36FB33E, retrieved June 11, 2011.

4..Michael F. Bennet. United States Senator for Colorado. Bennet Calls for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. May 10, 2011. http://bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=6cb319b5-24ef-4599-b7c8-93dbe70292e3, retrieved June 11, 2011.

5..John Boehner. 8^th District of Ohio. Securing the Border & Enforcing Our Nation’s Laws. http://johnboehner.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=3945, retrieved June 11, 2011.