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PrintJEFFERSON CITY — Since the U.S. Congress failed to agree on immigration legislation last year, many states — including Missouri — are taking the matter into their own hands.
“The bottom line is that most state legislatures are somewhere between angry and furious at the federal government’s complete failure in the area of immigration enforcement,” Sen. Chris Koster, R-Harrisonville, said.
Bills addressing hiring illegal immigrants and admitting illegal immigrants to universities are at various stages of the lawmaking process, as well as legislation to make English the language of all official proceedings.
Koster and other lawmakers face escalating opposition from immigrant advocacy groups and other legislators.
Rep. Mike Talboy, D-Jackson County, expressed concern Thursday that Missouri is sending the wrong message.
“When we start doing things to make sure people know that they’re different, it defeats the very idea of what America is all about,” Talboy said.
Rep. Jerry Nolte, R-Gladstone, who sponsored the ban on college admissions to illegal immigrants, said that universities do a pretty good job of screening applicants, but that he wants to codify the process.
He introduced the measure because of the possibility that some illegal immigrants would graduate with a college degree, but would not be eligible for hiring.
But Joan Suarez, who formed the Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates Coalition this year to lobby the state on immigration issues, thinks the bill is too harsh.
“The legislative attitude does not mirror public attitude,” she said. “The general public is much less interested and much more compassionate.”
The coalition is urging legislators to reject most of the immigration measures that have been proposed.
The Missouri AFL-CIO is supporting a bill proposed by Sen. Tim Green, D-St. Louis County, that would bar the hiring of illegal immigrants by subcontractors working on publicly funded projects; companies in violation would not be allowed to bid on any such projects for 10 years.
Rep. Will Kraus, R-Jackson County, is sponsoring a bill that would make hiring an illegal immigrant a felony crime, and fine businesses up to $250,000 for a third offense.
Koster is centering much of his attention on the hiring of illegal immigrants and has introduced the most comprehensive legislation.
The bill, known as the Missouri Omnibus Immigration Act, would require every employer to use the Basic Pilot Program, a free Internet system provided by the federal government used for checking the immigration status of job applicants. It would also make it illegal to hire or rent to an illegal immigrant, and require law enforcement officers to check the status of detainees.
“At various points in our country’s history we have become addicted to cheap, illegal labor. We are again becoming addicted to cheap, illegal labor,” Koster said. “Unless we remove the needle of addiction from our arm in the very near future, we will not be able to ever get it out.”
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