Legislator wants limitations placed on those that enter country illegally

I wish I could vote in Arizona

By Howard Fischer, 1 Jan 2006, Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX — The architect of Arizona’s new employer sanctions law which takes effect Tuesday is crafting a series of new measure aimed at those who entered the country illegally.

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, told Capitol Media Services he is introducing measures this session to:

– expand the state crime of trespass to cover anyone in this country without authorization;

– require proof of legal presence in this country to register vehicle or get a title;

– deny workers’ compensation benefits to undocumented workers injured on the job;

– bar local communities from having policies which prohibit police officers from checking the immigration status of those they encounter.

Pearce also has some “cleanup’’ language for the sanctions bill.

He said the current wording might allow employers who pay workers cash “under the table’’ to escape the potential loss of license that applies under the new law to anyone else who knowingly hires an undocumented worker.

But the most controversial — and legally questionable — part of Pearce’s package would deny regular birth certificates to babies born in Arizona unless at least one parent proves citizenship.

That, he said, would deny automatic citizenship to the children.

More to the point from Pearce’s perspective, it would deny them public benefits now reserved for legal U.S. residents.

Pearce acknowledged courts have ruled the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in the wake of the Civil War to provide equal protection under the law, guarantees citizenship to anyone born in this country.

But he said extending that to those born of parents not here legally is based on a misreading of the amendment. He notes it says citizenship requires not just birth in the U.S. but also that the person is “subject to the jurisdiction’’ of this country, something he said does not apply to those here illegally.

But Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said it is Pearce misreading the Constitution.

She said that clause was inserted because Congress did not want to constitutionally grant citizenship and the right to vote to Native Americans. The phrase, she said, instead considers Indians to be members of sovereign nations and therefore not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

But Sinema said visitors, legal or otherwise, are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, just as a foreigner who commits a crime here can be prosecuted in Arizona courts.

The package, coupled with the sanctions bill and those prior voter-approved measures, is designed to make Arizona less hospitable for those not here legally and pressure them to leave.

There is at least anecdotal evidence the sanctions law already is doing that: Some Mexican nationals who normally return home to visit family at Christmas have indicated they may not return.

“It’s a matter of cutting off the free stuff, stopping the benefits,’’ Pearce said.

“I mean to make it unfriendly for those who break laws,’’ he continued, comparing the measures to legislative efforts to stop drunk driving by imposing stiffer penalties. “What do you have to do to raise the bar so much that they stop?’’

He said taxpayers are burdened with the cost of “anchor babies’’ born to those in this country illegally.

The Pew Center for Hispanic Studies said in 2006 about one out of every seven of the more than one million students in Arizona public schools are here because of illegal immigration. While as many as 60,000 are themselves here illegally, another 90,000 are children of illegal immigrants who, by virtue of their birth in this country, are considered citizens.

While federal law requires states to educate all children regardless of immigration status, most other programs can be reserved for legal residents, ranging from free health care for those who meet income restrictions to subsidized tuition at state universities.

And Pearce said if those not here legally leave because of the other measures, they will take their children, reducing the state’s nearly $5 billion annual cost for education.

“A better name for these ‘anchor babies’ is probably ‘jackpot babies,’ ‘’ Pearce said.

Pearce said once Arizona denies regular birth certificates to children of those not here legally there will be a lawsuit. He believes this time the courts will side with his view of the 14th Amendment.

A similar initiative drive launched last month already has drawn opposition from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association amid concerns about putting these facilities in a law enforcement role and eroding trust with patients.

Pearce is not taking any chances of rejection of any of his proposals by Gov. Janet Napolitano, who previously vetoed trespass bill and similar measures. All are being drafted so they pass the Republican-controlled Legislature they go directly to the ballot.

Sinema conceded all likely would gain voter approval, as did prior measures in 2004 and 2006. She said voters are frustrated with lack of action by Congress to deal with the issue.

“When they don’t act, Arizonans get mad at anyone they can,’’ she said. “And I can’t blame them for it because they have a right to be frustrated.’’

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