Arguments heat up over new immigration law
Arguments heat up over new immigration law
By Michael McNutt
Published: December 7, 2007
Modified: December 9, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Modified: December 9, 2007 at 1:14 pm
The state's new immigration law is scaring away Hispanic workers and making it difficult for roofing and road-building companies to complete jobs or bid for new ones, business owners and advocates said Thursday.
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‘Moral obligation' to speak out
Coates, the only Republican legislator to vote against HB 1804, has filed legislation, Senate Bill 1143, to repeal sections of the law that deal with harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.
"I feel a moral obligation to say loud and clear this is hurting our state,” said Coates, R-Seminole.
Mel McGowan with Aduddell Roofing, a nationwide roofing company with corporate offices in Oklahoma City, said the company struggles to find workers in Oklahoma.
Most of the workers are Hispanic and are documented, she said. She's concerned about keeping many of the 100 or so workers in Oklahoma or hiring new crews, she said.
"They're scared,” McGowan said. "It's hard to find them now.”
Bobby Stem, a lobbyist for the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors whose member companies build roads and bridges in the state, said HB 1804 has created "an environment of fear among a lot of our workers.”
Coates said the law has had a negative effect on businesses and farmers because it has caused a diminished workforce. Many Hispanics, whether here legally or not, left the state since last spring when the measure was signed into law because of fears over the measure, he said.
The shortage of workers has resulted in some "farmers who had to leave crops in the field,” he said.
"What people don't seem to realize is that the chilling effects of this law have resulted in the loss of both documented and undocumented employees in Oklahoma,” Coates said. "These jobs pay good wages, but too few American workers are willing to take these jobs because they mean being out in the heat and cold and require doing hard manual labor.”
Coates, co-chairman of the Senate Business and Labor Committee, said some employers have had to move out of Oklahoma because of the inability to find workers.
Coates said he will file a bill that removes some of the bill's restrictions to employers who pay at least twice the minimum wage and cannot find workers to fill the position.
He's also planning to file legislation to ensure prenatal care is not denied to anyone.
Related Topics:
Domestic Policy, Social Policy, Political Policy, Special Interest Groups, Politics, Immigration Policy, Transportation, Hispanic and Latino Issues
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