Arguments heat up over new immigration law
Arguments heat up over new immigration law
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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Coates, Terrill trade barbs
Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, the House author of HB 1804, said earlier he planned to introduce legislation to reverse a policy that allows illegal immigrant mothers to receive state and federally subsidized prenatal care in Oklahoma.
"I think the man has some racist ideas here,” Coates said of Terrill.
Contacted later, Terrill denied he is a racist, calling comments by Coates, who lists his occupation as a construction consultant, outrageous.
"They're insulting and somewhat laughable coming from a senator who derives most of his income from the construction and building trade,” Terrill said.
"There is no job that an American citizen and in particular an Oklahoman is not willing to work at the right wage and benefit level,” he said. "The prevalence of all this cheap illegal alien labor has had a depressing effect on wages.”
Terrill said it will be difficult to repeal sections of HB 1804. It passed 88 to 9 with four absent in the House and 41 to 6 with one absent in the Senate.
Jett, R-Tecumseh, said he would file legislation that would set up a pilot program for those who wish to continue working in Oklahoma. Workers would be able to purchase a tax number identification card that would be an affidavit documentation of good-faith intent and effort to comply with Oklahoma state law. Money from the workers would be used by the state to pay for any public services used by illegal immigrants.
Jett, who was absent when HB 1804 was voted on in the House, said the measure passed out of frustration by the lack of activity by Congress to pass an immigration law.
"We're beginning to realize that there are some unintended consequences and it's not in our best interest nor is it our desire to injure families in Oklahoma or to disrupt our economy,” Jett said.
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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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