Legislator plans new reforms
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359
By Michael McNutt
Published: November 8, 2007
The author of the state's immigration bill said Wednesday he will file legislation seeking to make English the official language in Oklahoma and to give law officers the right to seize assets, such as a vehicle or a home, when used to transport or house illegal immigrants.
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Charging ahead
Terrill, R-Moore, said he wants to crack down on so-called anchor babies, children whose mothers come to the United States to give birth. The U.S. Constitution states children born in this country are U.S. citizens.
About 30 states have passed legislation making English the official language, and the timing is right in Oklahoma, he said.
"That is some unfinished business that we need to take care of here with regard to an overall real meaningful immigration reform package,” Terrill said as he announced his ideas to members of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee.
"You have my commitment on this,” Terrill said. "I'm never going to give up on this issue. We're going to continue to charge ahead.”
His idea to deal with babies born to illegal immigrants would be for Oklahoma to refuse to issue a birth certificate, he said. Instead, the state would send an acknowledgement of birth to the U.S. embassy or consulate of the parents' nation of origin requesting a birth certificate.
"That would set up the legal challenge because you would have unlawfully present, foreign national parents who would be suing the state of Oklahoma to try to get a birth certificate for a child who they would be claiming is a U.S. citizen,” he said.
Law enforcement changes
Terrill's legislation also calls for providing financial incentives to local police and sheriff departments to send officers to get federal training on immigration issues, he said. Tulsa County is the only county in the state that has a partnership with the U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement to track the immigration status of people arrested for crimes.
That office "is the model for how our other state and local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma ought to be enforcing federal immigration law,” he said.
Terrill said he has received calls from legislators in about 12 states interested in writing similar legislation to HB 1804, which makes it criminal to transport, hire, harbor, house or conceal illegal immigrants. It also requires local law enforcement agencies to check immigration status. The law, which went into effect last week, effectively ends state-sponsored benefits for those who cannot prove they are legally in the United States.
He predicted as many as 30 states will consider similar legislation during the next few months.
Terrill said he also wants to introduce legislation to reverse a policy that allows illegal immigrant mothers to receive state and federally subsidized prenatal care in Oklahoma.
"I'm a conservative pro-life Republican, I believe that life begins in conceptions,” Terrill said. "And I believe that there are certain basic human rights that come in with personhood, the biggest one being the protection of your right to life. But that is a much different concept than being a legal U.S. citizen.”
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LATINO,AFRICAN,HISPANIC ALIENS DO NOT BELONG IN THE U.S.A.
ANCHORBABY,ANCHORSENIORS
DEPORT!DEPORT!DEPORT!NOW!
TRUE PATRIOTS UNITE!MULTIPLE PHONE,FAX,EMAIL US CONGRESS
VOID 1986,94(D)ILLEGAL ALIEN AMNESTY!
BEWARE!OF ILLEGAL LEGAL ALIENS WITH FAKE AMERICAN 1ST NAMES
LATINO,AFRICAN,HISPANIC ALIENS DO NOT BELONG IN THE U.S.A.
DEPORT!DEPORT!DEPORT!NOW!
You might want to turn down the volume on your tinfoil hat before receiving incoming radio frequencies. The microwave radiation can cause brain damage. Also, I think the Ku Klux Klan meeting you were looking for is at the OTHER end of the hall.
ANCHORBABYS,ANCHORSENIORS
DEPORT!DEPORT!DEPORT!NOW!
TRUE PATRIOTS UNITE!MULTIPLE PHONE,FAX,EMAIL CONGRESS!
VOID 1986,94(D)ILLEGAL ALIEN AMNESTY!NOW!
BEWARE!OF ILLEGAL LEGAL ALIENS WITH FAKE AMERICAN 1STNAMES
LATINO,AFRICAN,HISPANIC ALIENS DO NOT BELONG IN THE U.S.A. NYC,NY(R)
Have you ever heard the phrase: "It's not what you say, but how you say it"? If you read what I said closely, you'll notice that I was careful to say "we are not Nazi Germany." History has already happened. We are not Germany, and will not become Germany. But if you closely study the history of every fascist regime--ranging from Pinochet and Suharto to Franco and Mussolini--there is literally a blueprint that dictators use to rise to power. Despite the cultural and historical differences between these countries and ours, there are many direct comparisons in government activity that are nearly identical in each. I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through so much to cross an invisible line that a lot of rich, slave-owning white men drew up not that long ago. I understand your frustrations at those who have "jumped the line." But why do we have "a line" in the first place? A line to cross a completely fictitious boundary that is maintained through physical violence? This world is getting too crowded for any ideas of cultural homogeneity, and those that think it is possible are willing to inflict great suffering upon other human beings to see their vision become a reality. It becomes clear, that when it comes to ideas of cultural identity and race, that in this country--ideas are more important than actual people. What you did is essentially play by "all the rules" that other, self-entitled people put in place to dissuade you from coming here. I ask this question: What sort of country are we building where setting foot on its land without prior notification is a crime? Wouldn't that mean that anyone coming here for "freedom" automatically becomes a criminal? Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your hungry..."? It's frightening that you would mention a nationalist party arising in this country, because I believe it's already happening all around us. All it's going to take is one more pressure point and the system locks in place. It's high time we give a hard look in the mirror as a country, and stop just giving lip service to the ideals it was supposedly founded upon. It is impossible to take away freedoms in the name of "freedom." George Orwell had a word for just that: doublespeak. The Natives called it "speaking with a forked tongue." Either way, as I mentioned at the beginning, "it's not what you say, but how you say it."
I belive it will only cause problems.
And I am totally against making Oklahoma an English only state! That is ridiculous. I love all languages and honestly I dont think people speaking other languages in this state affects anyone in a negative way. I have a translation/interpretation degree in Spanish and I am proud to be able to speak Spanish. I spend time working with children whos parents only speak spanish and helping them with their english comprehension. I also work as a resp therapist at a hospital and I work with hispanics there on a daily basis. Like i said this is turning into bigger trouble than there needs to be
Patrick,
Those harboring Jews were not fined...they were sent to camps to die along with the Jews and others horrible deaths. Are you comparing a fine or the seizing of an asset to being murdered? Where is your sense of proportion? I'm a legal naturalized United States Citizen from Latin America and I don't have a problem with these proposals. You don't like the term
"Illegal immigration" as if there is no difference between legal and illegal immigration. I waited 18 years to become a citizen of the United States. We did it through legal methods. Should our patience’s and perseverance be diluted by those that won't do it legally? Keep in mind that there are plenty of us out here that did it the hard way and that resent it when others get to cut to the front of the line and make it even harder for us. If this country does not get control of the illegal immigration issue we will certainly see the rise of a nationalist party. You can only push people so far too fast. Eventually they will rise to protect what they see as the transfiguration of the country they love and are yes...willing to die for.
Sincerely,
Rudy Garcia
Proud Brown American, Latin American, Hispanic American or what ever American is politically correct for this decade. I prefer simply....American. No strings attached. We broke those at the border.
The media keeps throughing around the word mexico and mexicans. Honestly if they think the problem is with drug trafficing and people crossing the border and committing crimes, then they need to take their time and money and do something about that....... But there is no reason to cause so much unnecessary drama here. They are scaring people, uprooting them from their home and it is terrible. We are not leaving a very good name for ourselves as Oklahomans or better yet Americans!!!! Technically 99% of our population is immigrants, our ancestors came here long ago and stole the land from the native americans. Wake up and do something about it!!!!
I believe that means not only we are free to say what we want but also in what language we want to say it in.
I am totally against HB 1804 in all aspects, and also against making oklahoma an english only state. I dont think it is possible or right. Spanish is not the only other language that is spoken in oklahoma.
This is becoming ridiculous.
Let me give you a glimpse of what Oklahoma is in for if this bill fails or is overturned by a liberal court.
It begins by overloading your schools with students whose parents don’t pay the property taxes to support them. My kids have had to share a teacher and classroom with several students that spoke very little to no English. I just wished one day we could get a real estimate of how many students are in our American schools illegally.
Next and the most deadly is destruction of proper medical care for legal citizens. This is typically in areas where large groups of illegal’s live and abuse the emergency care system with non-emergency visits.
I was recently visiting a local Wal-mart I’ve gone to for years. They made several announcements in Spanish only. The feeling is that English is becoming the second language in California.
We actually have brick and mortar stores in California that sell food items but don’t accept cash or credit only tax payer supported California WIC cards. As you could guess a vast amount of the signs for the stores are in Spanish.
It was just 1994 that the citizens of California passed their own version of HB1804 (prop187). It passed with over 70% of the vote. We thought this would stop the poor invasion from the south but unfortunately politics and liberalism (9th circuit court) prevented it. The overwhelming vote of the people was overturned.
It’s estimated that in California it costs the taxpayers 11 billion dollars a year to support the illegal’s. That’s money that should be going to pay for our elderly and services for poor Americans not criminals from other countries.
I personally believe that the issue in California has progressed to the point where overwhelming numbers of illegal’s vote in our elections, which if it continues will certainly prevent the passing of illegal immigration laws and bankrupt the state within the next two years.
Your doing fine Oklahoma, keep up the fight till I get back there.
Don’t let California’s demise be yours!!
There are many languages spoken all over the world, I think this is a bit too much!
You are not any better than anyone else. Thanks for your opinion though