Guys, do you know anything about the Mexico government and the terrible situation there? It will not change without international assistance (U.S. mainly) The families living there that are living way beloew poverty don't have time to piddle around waiting for a revolution, hence they come here. You would too. Oh, and J.T., it's always cheaper in China, that's why. Mexico can't compete with those prices. I'm all for not buying anything produced there though, and I'm close to being all about an Olympic boycott...a little off the subject, I know.

Thanks, Paris I will check into it & the Farmers market was something I had not thought of.

Jimmy, if you are really interested try www.StillMadeinUSA.com or www.madeinusa.com Everything from cloths, to soap to tools.

That's a tough one Jimmy. I said try not to. I have to really need it to give in. Of course, like most Americans I have too much stuff. I argued with my insurance company for 5 months and in the end, I won. I think they just got sick of hearing from me and my doctor. Just hang in there and read the labels. Don't take any meds from there, OTC or prescription. As for food I have been going to the farmers market and ordered my beef from No Name Ranch. Ouch!! Expensive. No more pre-packaged anything. We lost our cat because of the pet food thing last year. We didn't know at the time what the problem was.

Now Paris I have a question for you . My wife & I try really hard not to buy anything that is made in China but evidently we are shopping at the wrong places because I very seldom find anything that is made anywhere but China where are we going wrong?

I will share this with you. The company I was talking about made their products in Oklahoma for many decades, now they have the products made in China and repackaged and assembled here. Now, the China products are assembled in Mexico and shipped here to be packaged. I am getting really good about not buying anything that is made in China if it is at all possible to find something made elsewhere. I just had a big disagreement with my insurance company about a drug that is now made in China, it used to be made in France. I will not take any drug made in China. They said it is cheaper when made in China. If it is, then why does it cost $2.13 more a month than when it was made in France?

J.T It won't work because it makes to much sense!!!

Here's a question that never gets answered, why do we have so much stuff made in China when it could be made in Mexico? There's some stuff made in Mexico, but not nearly as much as China. So, if we have NAFTA, wouldn't it make sense to take advantage of that trade agreement? If Mexico is supposed to be friendly, which it is, then it would make sense to help them boost their economy instead of boosting the economy of a foe and communist nation. Besides, the stuff being made in Mexico wouldn't have to travel half-way around the world. It would mean more jobs for the people of Mexico and more jobs for the people of the U.S. as well.

Paris, Not that it makes a difference, but my wife has been watching some kind of little mini series on HBO that tells of the founding of this country, America hasn't always been as great as she is now a lot of men & women worked very hard to make her the great country that she is . I believe with a little hard work & some very high hopes that it could be possible for Mexico & many other countries to become better, this of course would be a battle between the people & the government of their country but one well worth fighting for, if you want it bad enough!! We did it & I believe there are just as many smart non Americans out there as there are smart ones. As I said before I do not have ill feelings toward any person because of their skin color or where they came from but this country is ours & most of us want it back & most of us know it can't carry the load anymore. I am all for sending jobs to Mexico as opposed to China but my opinion doesn't really count.

Well said Jimmy. I know it is hard in some countries to make a living. However, I can tell you there is one large company here in Oklahoma that is slowly closing up shop and relocating in Mexico. The wages are not real good here. However, several hundred people find it worth while to work there and support their families. The wage is lower in Mexico for this company and would be considered excellent there. There is absolutly no reason that a determined group could no make any country a better place to live.

Sam, If you were born here then you are us & if you crossed the border being born in another country & came here illegally then that would make you them. I have no disrespect for any person, but this country & state just can't handle the overload & If the illegals would stay in their own country & fight half as hard to turn it around ,as they do to stay here then what an awesome country they could make it.

I agree, we would save money in the longterm by not having to pay for programs, healthcare, etc.. for those NOT paying taxes. We are not mean- we just want illegal aliens to get DOCUMENTED for security and tax reasons. Gheez. Common sense! Go get documented and you can stay- if not, leave.

If, could, estimate....What a nothing article...I don't think everyone who wants these law breakers out is racist...This law means all illegals, not just Mexican..ILLEGAL, what part of that do you not understand? Ask any OKC policeman what the cost to that department alone costs. Mexican gangs are running things in near SW OKC. Wake up people, we are not talking about good hard working honest families. If the were all good they would be here legally. Would you go into someone else's country illegally and expect benefits. As for the rights of illegals, they have none, they are illegal.

Since we know that illegals drain the government by billions of dollars a year in "free handouts", I would think that us losing a little in productivity would be only a drop in the bucket of what we are currently losing. If you are illegal -- I don't care what nationality you are -- you need to go back home. America cannot support and feed the whole world. We should take care of our own before we give handouts to illegals.

henny penny.. quick..tell ducky lucky.. the sky is falling.. This is not directed at the matter concerning the teenage footbaler

Wow, no sympathy whatsoever, just sarcasm. A woman serving her country is let down by the very government she serves because her son is killed by not just an illegal alien, but a criminal illegal alien. So Kurt, the only thing ridiculous here is your comment and how you find a death of an innocent Black teenage football star, educated enough to be considered by Stanford, to be sarcastic. Now that's tragic in itself.

Alright guys, J.T. proved it with that story. Every illegal alien in America kills people for no reason. Thank you for clearing that up. You guys are ridiculous.

AP News - A gang member accused of killing Los Angeles high school football star Jamiel Shaw is in the country illegally and had been released from jail without anyone questioning his citizenship the day before Shaw's shooting. Meanwhile, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Saturday afternoon was scheduled to join with Shaw's family to dedicate a memorial honoring the 17-year-old at the spot where he was killed. Police say Pedro Espinoza, the 19-year-old suspect arrested in Shaw's death, has been in a street gang since he was 12. Until this month, he had been in jail on charges of exhibiting a firearm and obstructing an officer. Espinoza was arrested March 7 and charged with murder. The charge has been labeled gang-related, which could make him eligible for the death penalty. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Police still are looking for a second man thought to be Espinoza's accomplice. Police said Shaw was a standout running back and a good student at Los Angeles High School. He also was the Southern League's most valuable player last season and had been recruited by universities including Stanford. Shaw's mother, Army Sgt. Anita Shaw, had been serving in Iraq but returned home when her son was killed. She is slated to redeploy to Iraq to finish her second tour of duty despite dozens of letters sent to her Army supervisors asking for an exemption. Immigration officials told the TV station that Espinoza is an illegal immigrant, but no red flags were raised when he was released from jail March 1. "The system is not 100 percent," Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the station. Police say Shaw was walking home from a mall on March 2 when Hispanic gang members pulled up in a car and asked him, "Where are you from?" — code for what gang did he belong to, police said. Espinoza then allegedly shot Shaw, who was not a gang member.

Jeff, Renee and Mike, I congratulate the three of you for showing both humanity and common sense. However, if you count the comments that fail to do either, you will find yourself in a small minority on this issue.
What's worse, if you read the tenor of the opposition letters, you'll realize that trying to to change that spewing of hate and bigotry is wasted time. They don't want to hear you, so they won't.

HB1804 is a good deed done for Oklahoma and the nation. Remember, no good deed goes unpunished, so accept the small dollar reduction and be proud of the progress Oklahoma has made in helping to retrieve the sovereignty of our nation. Oklahoma may be considered 'fly over country' but states like Oklahoma are what holds the east coast and the west coast together.

Interesting, Mexifornia has most of the illegals and they are going bankrupt. Why are they not cutting a large profit if supporting these illegals are good for the economy???

What's wrong with just getting legal?

HB 1804 is one of the most racist, xenophobic pieces of tripe masquerading as a law concerned about illegal immigration as has ever been written.
Now all the hand wringing begins.
Too bad they didn't have the courage to speak up sooner.
Then we have their counterparts right here on newsok.com writing in the same crap about "us" and "them".
Scary.

Interesting, only $1.3 billion impact, that's it.
If you consider $144 billion and divide it by the state's present population you get $40,200 per capita.

If you then consider $1.3 billion and divide it by the 50,000 estimate you get only $26,000 per foreign-born worker.

Next if you take 50,000/3,579,212 (The state's est. pop.) and multiply by $144 billion you get $2 billion in projected gross state product declines, however the article cited that it would be $1.3 billion, longer term. In short the state's gross state product would decline, however the gross state product per person would increase by about (144 billion-1.3 billion)/(3,579,212 - 50,000)
or about $200 per person

In short, these aren't the jobs we should care much for.

Did we all closely notice ESTIMATED the cost.... COULD be....I wonder if their estimating formulas are the same used by the Oklahoma lottery??

First let's consider the rationale of the group who commissioned the study. "The Oklahoma Bankers Association commissioned the report by the Edmond company." Now given the fact that illegal aliens nationwide sent approximetely 20 billion dollars back to Mexico, I don't know how much of that was from illegal aliens here in Oklahoma, but much of that was wired from banks here in the US. Let's commission another report on the fees that the banks charged these illegal aliens to wire that money back to Mexcio. What is the fee a bank would charge to wire money? These "concerned" bankers are concerned alright. They are concerned about losing the fees and could care less about the welfare of illegal aliens. The study estimated the long-term impact of the bill could be about $1.3 billion a year to the state of Oklahoma. How much of that are fees the banks would have charged to these illegal aliens? I gues we legal residents can expect to see the banks increase credit card fees, check fees, ATM fees and every other fee they charge to recoup the lost revenues for wiring money.

Jimmy, I just want to say that I earnestly respect your answer because it is honest. I don't think your racist, but I would want you to consider your definition of "Us" and "Them" because I would like a clearer definition for my own piece of mind. I'll admit to being what some may call a "Mexican-American". Now that being said, I want to tell you about my differing points of view. Now I'm going to assume that your definition of "Us" is White America and "Them" is all those of Latino (I.e. Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Mexican) descent that are here illegally. My family has been in this country for at least 4-7 Generations (4 on my father's side and 7 on my mothers). I can trace my ancestry in this country to the American-Mexico War where the United States claimed the Rio Grande Valley. So basically, America is all I know. However, if I went to Mexico, I would be known as an America and this would be the case in every other country and I can testify to this because, unlike a majority of Americans, I have a crossed an ocean to experience other cultures. Now my family and I have experienced numerous events that lead me to believe I am one of "them." For example, when I received a ride from a dealership to my home while my car was being fixed, I was told by my driver that "I would be embarrassed by my people if I was you." Or there have been times when I meet someone new and they hear my surname and they ask me "Wow, you speak good English. When did your parents cross the border?" On an interesting side note, my father went to an Ivy League school in Massachusetts and from his experience he determined that his sons would not speak Spanish, so they would not speak with accents, which is funny because Spanish wasn't his first language and he does not have an accent. So please Jimmy, I would like you to answer my earnestly and honestly. Am I "Us" or "Them" and if I am "Them" where is my home?

Sam, Since nobody else will say it I will. We have enough of our own people to deal with, we are tired of them being here & want them to go home. You can call it racist or whatever you choose we're just sick of it period.

JH, I "COULD" get struck by lighting tonight whilst dancing the hully gully in my back yard.

The term "could" has to be part of the whole article. Is it not saying that we don't know,but it could.

In my 4 years in this state, it's the ONE thing I've seen the state do right....

Boot the illegals...period.

Am I the only one who has read some of the other articles in the immigration section? Just a quick point of fact, in the question and answer article, with Amy Acosta, she says plainly and correctly that illegals are REQUIRED TO PAY TAXES. It is true some don't, but what of the illegals that do pay taxes? They are guaranteed none of the rights that you feel are being denied you by the presence of illegals. And most stories of illegals that are coming here to try to better their lives and be part of American culture.

Nothing racist has been stated here. Racism by defintion: "Is the believe in the innate inferiority or superiority of a racial group" Mexicans are not a racial group. They are an ethnic group. Anyone may become a Mexican by becoming a Mexican citizen and by giving allegiance to Mexico. Too many people consistently and constantly call anyone who disagrees with them who happens to differ from the racially or ethnically a racist. Wrong! Wrong!

Ever notice how racists capitalize and use lots of exclamation points?

If the economic impact is so great, why is it that the State of California is losing so much money to the number of illegal persons in their state. The economic impact is another way that those who support persons who are illegally in this country are trying to convince everyone that it will hurt them when it will not. We Okies will be just fine! I say: "If you are here illegally, it is time to git! DO IT LEGALLY!" As the Jack and James have stated in their commentaries and I do as well, what about our laws? And what about the human cost, there are cities throughout the United States reporting the number of illegals committing crimes that will certainly cost those and this community more than 1.8 billion dollars in police work and legal costs when they break our United States and Oklahoma laws. So the whining groups, quit trying to convince us that we will suffering immeasureably because of the law we pressed our legislator to pass. Enough is enough!!!

The phrase here is "IF" 50,000 illegal aliens leave teh state. The real question now is how many illegal aliens, if any, actually left the state? And, if any left the state how many of that number were actually contributing to the economy. I haven't seen a line of cars heading out of state with "California or for that matter any other state or Bust signs on them. I see a headline that appears to say the state has lost over a Billion$$ in productivity, if 50,000 productive illegals left, but they don't say if any study has been done at all to see if even one has actually left the state due to te law. All I see is a group that is trying to grab headlines and use it as a scare tactic to influence anyone that doesn't at least ask for the facts. Thank you Oklahoma Legislature for doing something that makes sense and please keep your guard up against being influenced by unsubstantiated headlines.

Doesn't seem to bother the people living in the illegal enclave behind Abe's R.V. north of Frontier City. They send their kids to Edmond schools, heck the bus even drops them off right on location. These people have post office boxes in the office of Abe's R.V. They are totally off the grid, yet live like they have their own secret society. INS turns its head because they don't have resources or manpower to investigate illegal communities. Funny thing is that you have to be illegal to live there. The owner does not want to know any names or specifics of any of the "renters". That way if INS or ICE ever investigates, he can honestly say that he has no idea who rents those spaces. He also hopes that if he is found out, he can just say they are monthly renters like in a motel. Motels are exempt from HB1804.

I so agree with Jack-OKC and James-Mrytle Beach! What illegal folks are "costing" Oklahoma is certainly a much greater amount than 1.3 million! I really wish someone would conduct a study on that! Besides - they are breaking the law!!!!!! Does anyone care about that?? Many other states are hoping their legislators have enough foresight as Oklahoma legislators had and pass the SAME bill!! Hang tough, Oklahoma - you have done the right thing! For ALL concerned!

I'm sorry the state is going to loose a lot of money. It looks like the powers that be need to spend some time on how to get businesses and people here to Oklahoma to perk up the sagging economy. I still don't like the idea of illegal aliens coming into Oklahoma and taking the jobs and mostly sending it out of state. I don't like the idea of creating special classes so the spanish speaking people can go to school. They need to understand English. I also don't like the idea of paying for medical, or programs to pay for things that Oklahomans having lived here all their lives can't get because they don't qualify. They need to do a study on how much Oklahomans will save on not doing special programs and how much we could save on education. So much is wasted.

Lets see it will cost the state economy $1.3 billion if we get rid of the 50000 illegals. That means each man woman and child we get rid of is contributing $36000 to the economy or for a family of four that is $144000 per illegal family per year.. HORSEPUCKY

I think coates is smoking something.

If they are contributing $144000 per year to our economy why am I paying for their health care, social programs, and other parasitic activities?

They can really improve the economy by eliminating welfare thus making people work for a living. If the bleeding hearts object, let their church help instead of robbing me at the end of the barrel of the IRS.

Come on folks, you don't expect the banking industry to show both the liabilities AND the assets do you??

OU Health Sciences Center Emergency center had to shut down last year along with it's pharmacy because of the illegals over-burdened the system, I'm sure it has happened elsewhere in the state, why doesn't News- 9 do a story on that?

I wonder what the cost savings on our prison systems, police departments, public works departments cleaning up graffiti, benevolent organizations being stretched so thin, hospital costs, etc. will be. I hear the complaints about reduction of economic production but I fail to hear the dare mention of the pros of the debate for the immigration bill. How about all the people that will work at any job, but can't get hired because they don't speak spanish. Because that is the language of the supervisor who doesn't speak english.

Coates, You just won't rest until you can keep your illegal workforce will you ??? This might give some out of work Oklahomans that are legal a job to do.

1.3 billion, the amount that Coates and his ilk would have to pay to US citizens to do the work now done by illegal aliens. Recall Coates!!!!

So is Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole suggesting that he is ready to sell out Oklahoma to illegals for 1.3 billion dollars?

I'm with you Renee.

Everyone seems to have a strong opinion on this, one side or the other. Good! People should voice their opinions to their legislators and make their voices heard. The Oklahoman's coverage of this issue seems to be awfully one-sided. I wonder why that is? A little impartiality would be nice.

Wow Grandpa, i can't believe you came from under your white hood long enough to type a comment. I don't support illegal labor, but i also don't support calling folks beaners.

keep up the great work Randy, hope what OK did happens here in SC very soon, thanks a lot

if this is true, did you bother to figure how much this law will save in OKs budget, schools, welfare, jobs for Americans, healthcare, higher wages, always one sided, get the all sides before making your caes

Harry Coates needs to look at the high unemployment rate in a lot of counties. Here are just a few of the counties and their unemployment rate..... McCurtain 6.9%... Hughes 6.5%... Sequoyah 6.4%... LeFlore 5.6%... Muskogee 5.4%... Adair 5%... Cherokee 4.1%. ALL above the national average. That is quite a lot of people needing jobs. Plus, with the Cargill plant in Booneville Ar. burning, that put 800 people without a job. So, Harry Coates can just shut up with his moaning and groaning. The U.S. citizens need the jobs that the illegal criminals have taken from the U.S. citizens.

I find it almost humorous that a similar "economic study" was released early in the anti-slavery movement. Doesn't matter what's right or wrong. Someone always makes an economic case why abuse should continue. The greedy business owners want the cheap slave labor. They want authorities to look the other way. Get used to the idea that you'll soon be paying actual wages, folks. Christmas is over.

I can assure you with 1000 percent accuracy that the state would be spending more money in free crap to illegals at the expense of Oklahoma taxpayers. GOD BLESS OKLAHOMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Give me a break. What a scare tactic. Why is the DuhOklahoman supports illegal immigration? Do the Gaylords have a ton of illegals working on their papers and other companies? I think they protest too much!!

Plus, wouldn't American citizens come to Oklahoma to take over the 50,000 open positions. However, this 50,000 assumes that legal immigrants would flee also. I know lots of foreign born legal immigrants and they dislike illegals more than US citizens do.

I find that a bit hard to believe. How do you get estimates for undocumented workers if they are undocumented? The state shouldn't lose any revenue since none of them are tax payers. I seriously doubt that Oklahoma is lacking a workforce and will really feel any noticable impact. If your business has sank to the level of needing workers to work for $3 per hour or less to stay in business, then you have bigger problems to worry about.

Might be the best money money the state ever spent. Now that we know how much we will lose on the revenue side, how much will we save on the expenditure side. Funny how no one has done a study on that.

Well Said Mike!!! Bye Bye Randy

everything comes with a cost, this is no different. If we suddenly stiffened all the drug laws and drove all the drug dealers out of Oklahoma, I am sure the economy would be affected also. What is the difference? We should be more lenient because of the bottom line? please...

duh! couldn't leave this one alone. Too busy passing bills they think will get them re-elected rather than what's really good for this state: yeah, let's penalize the cheap and excellent labor force we've enjoyed all these years. Everyone was so anti-Mexican for a while. Why? They can be some of our best allies and helpers in times of need. When are we going to quit dividing this nation and start healing it? We are a diverse group. Intolerance is a big, flat rock. We need to be a wheel.