Oklahoma's immigration law that takes effect Nov. 1 will create hundreds of "immigration widows” and could result in the state paying more in welfare benefits, an Oklahoma City attorney said Thursday.
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Michael Brooks-Jimenez, whose clients are 85 percent Hispanic, said women who are U.S. citizens may have to seek state aid for themselves and their children when their immigrant husbands who are in Oklahoma illegally are deported.
"Hundreds of women whose husbands are going to be deported as a result of this law will have no other alternative other than to just leave and go to Mexico with their U.S.-citizen children or to go on public assistance here,” he said.
"The heartbreak right now is that I don't think that it was fully thought out what the impact of this law was going to be,” Brooks-Jimenez said. "You're going to have immigration widows ... (who) are not going to have the breadwinners that they always had before.”
It's likely the state Department of Human Services may have to take into custody American-born children whose parents are both in the state illegally and face deportation, he said.
"Instead of taking burdens off the (state) system, this law's going to create additional burdens on the system,” Brooks-Jimenez said.
Brooks-Jimenez said he is disappointed lawmakers who wrote the immigration bill did not consult with local immigration attorneys and advocates.
Brooks-Jimenez made the comments after speaking during an annual Latino Heritage Celebration at the state Capitol. About 270 elementary and high school students who participated in an essay contest on the Hispanic culture were among the hundreds who attended the event, which featured dancers and food.
Fears rebutted
State Rep. Randy Terrill, author of legislation earlier this year who that off most public benefits for illegal immigrants, called such scenarios "highly unlikely and improbable.”
"People to whom this would be happening would be people who have voluntarily made the decision to enter the country or remain here in violation of federal immigration law,” said Terrill, R-Moore. "It is unfortunate but perhaps possible in some limited number of cases that you would end up with some fairly sad stories. ... The commission of crime has consequences.”
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I saw that too and was disgusted by it as well. Many of those politicians either have coverage through their own businesses other employers or their spouses and that money could be filtered back into the current health care system to do some good. It's a shame that Oklahoma is so bass ackwards about taking care of the residents.
isnt it crazy? and i read today that even the politicians are giving themselves more health care...but i bet they give none the the section 8 folks down the street. whole thing makes me sick.
Todd.. thank you for that great post. I agree with 99.9% of everything you said. I just still think that to give the medicaid benefits to illegal aliens is like printing a Willy Wonka golden ticket for them and it invites them to flock here versus either staying home or even going to a neighboring state. Again, I do not support Terril and honestly don't keep up with politicians enough to know who he is. But, he sounds like a real twerp who has his priorities out of whack although I do agree that we should not extend benefits. On a side note though, anyone that knows a student that's attending a state university and are being charged out of state tuition and there are active illegal alien students attending a state university and they don't pay out of state tuition. The school must give everyone the same tuition rate or they are in violation of a federal law. I lost the page that I found the information on but in effect our state universities cannot charge out of state tuition fees to anyone if there are illegal immigrants enrolled.
ultimately what makes me sad is that instead of randy going and fighting for us, he went to go fight a one armed fight. it easy to say they are illegal ...KICK EM OUT!!... but its harder, and more honorable to come up with solutions that do give tax payers a better standard of living. in other words instead of stopping to pick a fight about illegals, he may choose to get our kids health care, better safer schools, no mouths left unfeed, make sure kids are clothed, old folks got heat and air, build more parks, build better roads. im sorry that you cant agree with me. but i am a parent who will never put an illegals kid over my own. and yours too if it came down to it.
ultimately what makes me sad is that instead of randy going and fighting for us, he went to go fight a one armed fight. it easy to say they are illegal ...KICK EM OUT!!... but its harder, and more honorable to come up with solutions that do give tax payers a better standard of living. in other words instead of stopping to pick a fight about illegals, he may choose to get our kids health care, better safer schools, no mouths left unfeed, make sure kids are clothed, old folks got heat and air, build more parks, build better roads. im sorry that you cant agree with me. but i am a parent who will never put an illegals kid over my own. and yours too if it came down to it.
ultimately what makes me sad is that instead of randy going and fighting for us, he went to go fight a one armed fight. it easy to say they are illegal ...KICK EM OUT!!... but its harder, and more honorable to come up with solutions that do give tax payers a better standard of living. in other words instead of stopping to pick a fight about illegals, he may choose to get our kids health care, better safer schools, no mouths left unfeed, make sure kids are clothed, old folks got heat and air, build more parks, build better roads. im sorry that you cant agree with me. but i am a parent who will never put an illegals kid over my own. and yours too if it came down to it.
jan, jason... you know that this is just a stir em plan to get terrill re-elcted. you have me confused and ill say it again. i am not for illegals anywhere in our country. ive seen them with my own two eyes. they exist. a matter of fact i could argue that ive seen more proof of illegal aliens than i have of any type of "god". but i do not believe that pregnate women of any nationality should not get medical care under that circumstance. whats wrong with my opinion that all humans deserve dignity. i understand that they are illegally here now anyways. they should be sent back. i blame the lawmakers that made the policy we live with today. maybe if we were defending our boarders with the national guard instead of sending them to iraq we would be more "secure". i agree THEY ARE ILLEGAL SEND THEM HOME!! but i will never agree to not giving care to someone that needs it. i know your a big jesus freak and love to hate and kill. but in the end jason....and jan.....its only money, taxes, a little inconvience.... crime happens everyday. life happens every day....i live in randys district. i voted for him the first time. he has not fufilled one promise he gave to me on my poarch. a matter of fact he lied to me on several levels, and could not identify the main difference between a repubican and a democrat. i can tell you from living in norman for 40 years that norman has always been a fairly liberal town dating back to oklahomas beginings. oklahoma used to be a little more "jetset" even before the oil boom. in oklahoma you would see many interracial couples getting together and getting married. hell oklahoma had some of the first black football players. i can remember growing up and going to church and hearing all the venom gossipped about the "oreo kids", the "ragheads", the "chinks", and loandbehold now the "wetbacks". see jason this immigration thing should have been taken care of long ago. its far overdue. but the thing the makes me most angry is the fact...like you.....we pay taxes that dont go to help us. a matter a fact our government is so backwards and fat and lazy and power/money drunk that they have managed to twist it all around. isnt health care for our kids important? im sure you would agree it is. thats all im saying. that our oklahoma kids are more important. that no baby should be punished under any circumstance. and that our leaders stink and have for a long time. and that we should protect our boarders at the source, so we CAN begin to clean up the nations interior. are you following me? thats as easy as i can put it.
As someone else pointed out vaguely. Our educational system is suffering a severe blow and could be on the verge of crumble caused by the increased expenses due to illegal immigrants. I have seen it firsthand at my son's school, which is extremely multicultural. Extra teachers, textbooks and classrooms are needed for the children that do not speak English. They cannot be forced to speak English if their parents do not wish for them to learn. Many of the parents do not wish for them to learn because they want to preserve their heritage. That's wonderful and I totally support preserving your heritage but you cannot do it at the expense of the children that are true American citizens. I had to pay for a tutor for my son because he was only one of 4 English speaking students in his class and the teacher had to spend so much time assisting the non-English speaking students that those that had English as a first language got pushed to the side. I finally transferred him to a different school and surprise, surprise, he's a straight A student. But, I didn't think he was going to learn to read from the school that attended as a small child.
Timmy, you're dodging the issue. The issue is not United States foreign policy a hundred years ago, or the dubious yarn you spin about Irish and Swedish ancestors being mistreated (of which I don't believe a word). The issue is simply this: those here illegally, in violation of our laws, should leave or be deported. If you, or your buddy "todd" from Norman don't like those laws, and want to let everyone in the world in, lobby Congress to change the laws more to your liking. It's called Democracy. In the meantime, the law as it now stands should be enforced. You can spin and obfuscate and blather and weep and moan all you wish, but the bottom line is this: those you're defending (and not very well, at that) are lawbreakers, period.
tim you hit it, and most of the other posters just dont know. i do think that if we deported the politicians and there families we would probably be better off.
The original residents of Guymon may disagree with you Tim, crime has risen 74% in their country while declining 12% in all other counties surrounding them. Drugs and gangs are the norm now. Their kids are being jumped by gang members at school. A small town had to open a homeless shelter, something they never had in all their history.. So Tim, open up your pocketbook and pay for them yourself, I'm not...
According to Mr. Jimenez, maybe we should just stop arresting all those murderers and rapists out there because its going to cost us money to prosecute and house them in prisons. That is asinine logic just as his is. They can start the "legal" process of immigration and be reunited or take the wife and kids with them. Remember, Oklahomans aren't the one's that broke the laws, the "illegal" immigrants are. Key word there---"illegal".
No I'm typing my words based upon what my forefathers, who were Irish and Swedish, shared with me. Their stories of how even though their skin was the same color, they were hated, spat upon and degraded for being "different" and wanting a better way of life. There weren't considered Americans, even though they were filling a skills demand that those who had come before them didn't want to do. Just like today. Anglo's don;t want to fill the jobs and yet they don't want anyone else to fill them either. I am glad some of you folks weren't around when my ancesotrs came to this country to help build "our" railroads, work the farms and grow our economy. I'm glad they made it through Ellis Island and were able to be part of the American Dream. If they hadn't I wouldn't be able to argue with your views and ideas. Lucky me.
I also wish to see people here legally, paying into the same system we pay into, assuming your not homeless or on welfare. But I am also for having level headed decisons made on the subject which ARE NOT based upon slander and bias. We need more skilled workers, lumping all Hispanics into the same catagory is like saying all Oklahomans are rednecks. When the cost of living spirals so far out of control, because we have no one to fill the low paying jobs, which the hispanics, legal or illegal, are willing to fill, then what? Make em legal, do it now, find away to grow our popultaions and grow our economy...Isolationism didn't work 100 years ago and it's not going to work today. Sorry don't know any La Raza members, how bout you?
Hey Timmy in Ponca City, are you typing those "open-borders-let'em-all-in-life
-is-just-grand" talking points from memory, or did a La Raza member have to write them down for you?
I am all for allowing people who want to become American citizens to do so. BUT -- do it right -- enter the country legally, work, PAY TAXES, contribute to society, earn your citizenship, LEARN our language, fly OUR flag. Most Oklahomans would welcome these people under the right conditions. And there are those that do it right and I commend them. But far too many just want a free ride and it is putting a strain on our schools, health care, housing, etc. The question is -- do they want to be American citizens or just bleed America for what she's worth?
So since it so obvious that you are the self ordained intellectual ones, tell the rest of us who will fill the jobs currently unfilled across Oklahoma? White, homeless, unionized, welfare recepients? Now thats a brilliant theory. Sorry you can stand the heat for being what you are. Being ugly towards another human being regardless of their ethnicity, and calling it something else is still pure bigotry. Being a racist is tough duty but it seems many of you are willing to raise your hand and volunteer to fill the role. Don't like it? Then kept quiet. Being tolerant of others and accepting those different than you is not easy to do. Glad you weren't on the Mayflower or were you on the shores checking to see who was "legal? Guymon is also a far cry from a desitute full of illegal aliens. Looks like a pretty vibrant economy that many of the "white" citizens have benefitted from. Problems? Sure no different from any other town in America. Are their problems compounded by Hispanics? Sure and whites and black and any other group of people that causes problems. Without Seaboard, Guymon would have continued to decleine and be just like those other Panhandle metropolis's like Boise City or Buffalo. Maybe you would prefer to see all the small towns in Oklahoma die off. Then we could just live among the "pretty people" in the Oklahoma City suburbs..
Tell that to the people in Guymon Tim. They were promised good jobs. They got them, 4,300 to be exact, for illegal aliens. The small town even had to set up a homeless shelter because illegals were showing up in buses with nowhere to live. Not to mention their kids took over the school and made it impossible for the original citizen's kids to even get an education. Tell that to a town called Guymon whose nice little law abiding town was destroyed by illegal immigration.
Boo-hoo, Tim in Ponca City, cry us a river. I can tell when someone is not intellectually serious when they pull out the "racism and bigotry" charge when trying to make their case. The bottom line is that those who are here illegally should go home and then attempt to re-enter the country the legitimate way. Period.
So who fill the jobs that the Hispanics now occupy? Homeless people or those who are on welfare? Do any of you who have commented so vehemently want to do the work they are doing, or is your gripe more about free enterpise making a profit and not enough entitlement programs? Rather than complain that they are taking your "benefits" why don't you try working for benefits rather than expecting them to be free? There are thousands of jobs in Oklahoma that go unfilled everyday. The same is true in the states surrounding us. Slave wages and the downfall of the unions are the cause for illegal immigrants? Poppycock. Those who are on welfare can now get jobs becasue the Hispanics are being run oiut of the state? What a joke. They are on welfare because they are LAZY, not because they can't find a job. Oh and the homeless can find places to live comment, siure maybe we can GIVE them the houses for free because they are HOMELESS. The tipping point of those exiting the workforce is almost here. More will exit than enter the workplace. That means less taxes to support those who want free health care. So why not help make them leagal and allow them to pay into the system? Or do we just feel like hating others who aren't union supporters, or white, or who don't just speak english, or who don't compete with our children for service jobs. Bigotry and racism is alive and well in Oklahoma and the immigration issue exposes that everytime it comes to the paper. We need workers, not whiners...
seaboard farms and the destruction of Guymon is a prime example of the use of illegals and corporate greed. read this...http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989675-7,00.html
After the illegal immigrants take over this country, drain our health care and other systems, make Spanish mandatory, destroy our entire economic system to the point we resemble their homeland -- where will they choose to "invade and conquer" next? Look out Canada.
what a bunch of bullcrap all this immigration is. people are here illegally and we give them medical and food and work. what about the the people who are leagal and can't afford medical and food with a job that pays so little. i cant take my son to the doctor becuase i have nothing. DHS is the most worthless business on the block. They give to the blacks and mexicans before they help low / middle class white folks. WHATEVER....I'M TO THE POINT WHERE I JUST HATE EVERYTHING THE U.S. STANDS FOR IN IT'S FIGHT TO BETTER THE COUNTRY...WHAT A CROCK.
no one doubts the dismantling of the labor unions and right to work laws were to make way for illegals to come and take those jobs from citizens for slave labor wages years ago. The standard of living will go back to where it was before all this started.
Maybe my teenage daughter will finally be able to get a job at a McDonalds or KFC without having to learn Spanish to communicate with the other staff!!
The jobs held by Illegal Aliens will now be available to those persons who can't find a job and are currently on welfare so the welfare case load may not increase. Also as they leave, there will be housing and jobs for those homeless persons.
Here's a good article about how Illegals helped improve the town of Guymon Oklahoma (which used to be law abiding sleepy little town that generations have lived in) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989675-4,00.html
Immigration widows? Why can't they go to Mexico with their hubbys?
And Rob, the country was built on LEGAL immigrants who left their national flags, took up ours and learned English. Check out Capitol Hill if you dare.
Rob, you're twisting it around just like all the other spin doctors do. No one is turning their backs on Immigrants, they are welcome. It's the ILLEGAL ALIENS that are being given the boot.
Better yet...send the women and children back with them, they are harboring illegal aliens they are breaking the law too and should be deported. The only reason why they get to stay is because they had a baby here? WRONG send them all back
They already get public assistance because their "breadwinners" are illegal and there is no public record of their wages, thus they qualify. More of the "sky is falling" from chicken little Brooks-Jimenez. Let's see if Oklahomans can somehow survive without all of the Illegals here in Oklahoma. My bet is, the standard of living will rise substantially.
It's just another day and another immigration story in the Oklahoman and more examples of Oklahoma compasssion featured in the comment section. You're what make our state a shining beacon of hope to the rest of the nation.
Im sick of these minority leaders coming out and telling us that we are making a mistake by making it harder for ILLEGALs to live in our state. What part of illegal immigrant do you not understand? The health care system is already full of illegals taking advantage. It's not like we are talking about millions of people here. Its about time we as a community made a stand and represented how the majority feel.
That's like saying 'Let's do away with drug laws, it leaves children parentless....Hogwash!!...Use the money to deport them and save us millions. By the way, do you think the ACLU will help me out, I've been robbed of getting a Scandanavian Heritage month.
Why don't we care about the "widows" of other criminals? (Yes, illegal aliens are criminals). This is a choice they made to break the law. As Rep. Randy Terrill said, "The commission of crime has consequences.”
House Bill 1804, which mostly goes into effect Nov. 1, touches several subjects. Among other things, it:
•Forbids offering in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. Those already enrolled as in-state students when the bill takes effect will keep that status.
•Forces contractors working with the state to check workers' documents against a federal database.
•Empowers local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.
•Stops any state-offered public benefits for illegal immigrants, including food stamps and child care subsidies.
•Increases penalties for those caught trafficking illegal immigrants.
•Opens private businesses up to lawsuits if they hire illegal immigrants. This provision will take effect July 1.
•The law does not prohibit illegal immigrants from attending public schools.
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I also wish to see people here legally, paying into the same system we pay into, assuming your not homeless or on welfare. But I am also for having level headed decisons made on the subject which ARE NOT based upon slander and bias. We need more skilled workers, lumping all Hispanics into the same catagory is like saying all Oklahomans are rednecks. When the cost of living spirals so far out of control, because we have no one to fill the low paying jobs, which the hispanics, legal or illegal, are willing to fill, then what? Make em legal, do it now, find away to grow our popultaions and grow our economy...Isolationism didn't work 100 years ago and it's not going to work today. Sorry don't know any La Raza members, how bout you?
-is-just-grand" talking points from memory, or did a La Raza member have to write them down for you?
And Rob, the country was built on LEGAL immigrants who left their national flags, took up ours and learned English. Check out Capitol Hill if you dare.