From 9/11 to present: How we got to HB 1804

Much of the scrutiny surrounding those who enter the U.S. illegally goes back to Sept. 11, 2001, when a series of coordinated suicide attacks sent a wave of panic and anger through the nation, killing 2,974, primarily civilians.

House Bill 1804, effective Nov. 1, established criminal penalties for harboring, transporting or concealing illegal immigrants. It denies them public benefits. It also requires businesses to run all new workers through a verification system.

The legislation also could cut off in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students unless they can verify they have applied for citizenship or plan to within one year. It requires local law enforcement to check the immigration status of those it suspects of being illegal immigrants upon felony or DUI arrests. It also denies illegal immigrants' driver's licenses.

Here's a look at events leading up to the law being put into effect.

•9/11: Nineteen hijackers were killed during the attacks. At least one person has died of lung disease due to exposure to World Trade Center dust subsequent to those attacks. Another 24 people are missing and presumed dead.

•English only: By late 2002, momentum was going in Oklahoma to designate English as the official language in the state. But the English-only bill was defeated in March 2003.

Oklahoma's illegal immigrant population grew nearly 200 percent between 1990 and 2000, a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service study shows.

•Illegal Immigrant numbers grow: Based on the 2000 census and INS statistics, 46,000 illegal immigrants lived in Oklahoma in 2000. Those increases created serious momentum for long-time immigration control advocates.

"There's been a complete collapse of any effective immigration control,” said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

•Oklahoma's first immigration bill proposed: In November 2005, former state Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, proposed legislation requiring state employees to report illegal immigration. The measure would have required state and local employees to report suspected violations of immigration law to federal authorities.

•Oklahoma's new Boomers: By mid 2005, illegal immigrants made up at least 40 percent of the state's foreign-born population, according to national studies. It was designated as one of nine states with 55,000 to 85,000 illegal immigrants, also known as settlement states, the report said.

•HB 3119: In early 2006, Sen Randy Terrill, R-Moore, authored HB 3119, which would have required proof of citizenship when getting identification cards at school, registering to vote or seeking public assistance. Anyone who couldn't prove American citizenship would be turned over to federal immigration authorities under HB 3119.

•Back-to-back protests: On one day in April 2006, there were about 10,000 protesters demonstrating at the state Capitol against an illegal immigration bill authored by Terrilland Calvey. The next day, a group of 300 counter-protesters demonstrated at the state Capitol in support of the bill.

•HB 3119 dies: In April 2006, the bill was said to be too harsh and died in committee.

•HB 1804 is born: On Jan. 19, 2007, HB 1804 was filed as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 and moved through committees.

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