Tell Ohio Sen. John Carey to Focus on a Real Solution

Ohio will do what it can until federal government tackles immigration reform
 BY JOHN CAREY • August 6, 2010

 Read Full article in the Chillicothe Gazette.

. . . On March 24, my colleagues and I approved Senate Bill 35, legislation that directs the Ohio Attorney General to pursue a memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Attorney General under the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that would allow state law enforcement officers, who receive special training, to help enforce federal immigration laws in Ohio. It is important to note that the law specifies that no law enforcement officer may enforce federal immigration rules unless they have completed the necessary training, and nothing in the bill requires police to participate in this training.

That same day, the Senate also passed Senate Bill 150, a proposal that would give local law enforcement greater flexibility to assist federal immigration officials in the deportation of illegal aliens in Ohio.

Under current law, a county sheriff has the authority to arrest and detain illegal immigrants who violate a criminal provision of federal immigration law. However, this authority does not extend to civil provisions of the law, which includes matters of deportation. This limitation has left many local law enforcement officers with their hands tied in trying to address the illegal immigration problem in their communities.

SB 150 would allow local sheriffs to seek an agreement with the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help in the investigation, apprehension and detention of illegal aliens who violate civil and criminal provisions of federal immigration law. In addition, the bill would allow local sheriffs, at the direction of their county commissioners and upon the request of federal immigration officials, to receive into custody anyone who is being detained for deportation or charged with a civil violation of federal immigration law. Like SB 35, nothing in SB 150 requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws or take suspected illegal aliens into custody.

In addition, after officials from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation testified before the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee last fall that the agency does not currently check to see if injured workers are authorized to work in the United States before paying out benefits, legislation was introduced in the Senate to address the issue. Senate Bill 238, which passed the Senate in May, would require every injured worker in Ohio to prove to the BWC that he or she is authorized to work in this country, ensuring that the money companies are paying into the system now is only being used to cover the injury claims of employees who are legally authorized to work in the U.S.

America is a nation of immigrants, and I think most Americans believe that people from other countries who want to live and work here legally, should have a path to do so. However, illegal immigration poses a threat to our national security and financial stability and should not be tolerated. Until the federal government tackles immigration reform, Ohio, and other states, will continue to do everything possible to protect taxpayer resources and keep their local communities safe.

SB 35, SB 150 and SB 238 are all pending in the Ohio House. For more information, please visit the Ohio General Assembly website at www.legislature. state.oh.us.

John Carey, a Wellston Republican is the state senator for the 17th District, which includes Pike and Ross counties. To view his website click here. He can be reached at (614) 466-8156 or Email: SD17@senate.state.oh.us.


Dear Senator Carey,


State and local immigration enforcement measures waste valuable state resources on a federal responsibility and create mistrust in immigrant communities, leading to rising crime, while they DO NOT solve the immigration problem.

Furthermore, the BWC bill ignores employer responsibility in favor of placing the blame on the easy target and while burdening the entire public.


 If you, Senator Carey, really wanted to aide in the solution, you would should spend your time talking to your Congressional representatives about comprehensive immigration reform instead of this kind of obvious political pandering.

Sincerely,
Name

DREAM of an Act

DREAM of an act

Here's an immigration bill that deserves bipartisan support

Published on Thursday, Aug 05, 2010

Akron Beacon Journal
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/opinions/100008694.html

Congress is not about to embark on comprehensive immigration reform less than three months away from midterm elections. Even if it did, the chances are slim to nil the legislative debate would yield rational solutions to the country's complex immigration problems. Sen. Arlen Specter observed recently that ''the political pandering on the immigration issue has reached the hysterical level.''

Indeed, it has. The disgrace of it is that otherwise reasonable lawmakers, such as South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham, have jumped on the anti-immigration bandwagon, among other ploys targeting for repeal the 14th Amendment, which, since the 1860s, has guaranteed citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States. And all this at a time when the U.S. economy needs to attract and develop the vital energies and capabilities that hard-driving, motivated immigrants bring.

None of this is to deny that the country has an immigration problem. Estimates are that more than 11 million people are living here illegally. The vast majority of them come searching for political and economic security and are prepared for the hard work to secure the future for their families.

The realistic objective, especially for a country that cherishes its roots as a nation of immigrants, is to create a process that would simplify and encourage legal residency and citizenship. If Congress lacks the appetite to do battle now on comprehensive legislation, it certainly can take up a more manageable aspect of the problem: a means to legalize the status of children who are illegal residents through no decisions of their own.

That is the purpose of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minority Act, the most recent version of which was introduced in 2009. Better known as the DREAM Act, the bill proposes that children who were brought into the country before they were 16 years old earn conditional residency status if they have lived here at least five years, are of ''good moral character'' and have earned a high school degree or equivalent. After six years, they can apply for permanent residency if they have completed at least two years of post-secondary education or military service.

The bill offers these youths the incentives they need to develop into productive contributors, a pool of talent the country should not reject.

Congress is not about to embark on comprehensive immigration reform less than three months away from midterm elections. Even if it did, the chances are slim to nil the legislative debate would yield rational solutions to the country's complex immigration problems. Sen. Arlen Specter observed recently that ''the political pandering on the immigration issue has reached the hysterical level.''

Indeed, it has. The disgrace of it is that otherwise reasonable lawmakers, such as South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham, have jumped on the anti-immigration bandwagon, among other ploys targeting for repeal the 14th Amendment, which, since the 1860s, has guaranteed citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States. And all this at a time when the U.S. economy needs to attract and develop the vital energies and capabilities that hard-driving, motivated immigrants bring.

None of this is to deny that the country has an immigration problem. Estimates are that more than 11 million people are living here illegally. The vast majority of them come searching for political and economic security and are prepared for the hard work to secure the future for their families.

The realistic objective, especially for a country that cherishes its roots as a nation of immigrants, is to create a process that would simplify and encourage legal residency and citizenship. If Congress lacks the appetite to do battle now on comprehensive legislation, it certainly can take up a more manageable aspect of the problem: a means to legalize the status of children who are illegal residents through no decisions of their own.

That is the purpose of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minority Act, the most recent version of which was introduced in 2009. Better known as the DREAM Act, the bill proposes that children who were brought into the country before they were 16 years old earn conditional residency status if they have lived here at least five years, are of ''good moral character'' and have earned a high school degree or equivalent. After six years, they can apply for permanent residency if they have completed at least two years of post-secondary education or military service.

The bill offers these youths the incentives they need to develop into productive contributors, a pool of talent the country should not reject.

Update on Wadsworth and Toledo Immigration Resolutions

Wadsworth – The City Council considered a resolution, Res. No. 10-10, “to support the State of Arizona in regard to Arizona Senate Bill 1070” but they did not yet vote on the resolution. It was submitted for a third reading. Public commentary lasted about two and half hours and most of the presence there was from the Wadsorth 9.12 group as well as the Grassroots Rally Team. Many local community members were also opposed to the resolution, with comments ranging from “this is despicable,” to “I agree with the Arizona bill but this is not the place for City Council” to warnings from residents that they will leave if the City passes such a divisive resolution (one resident making such a comment was a ‘legal immigrant.’) The resolution presumably will be voted upon at the next meeting on Tuesday, August 17th.

Toledo – The Toledo Resolution “calls upon the President of the United States, the United States Congress and encourages the Ohio General Assembly and the Governor to enact and support comprehensive immigration reform that will for the State of Ohio address the issues of undocumented immigration at its’ roots and will keep families together and uphold our values as Americans and promote sound and sustainable economic growth.” The resolution passed, with the council voting 10-2 Tuesday night, with councilmen Tom Waniewski and Rob Ludeman dissenting. Click here for the full article.

Who Doesn't Have Cojones?

Originally published on the AILA Leadership Blog

She’s going to do all that she can to continue down the litigation path to allow secure borders…Jan Brewer has the “cojones” that our president does not have to  look out for Americans, not just Arizonans, but all Americans, in this desire of ours to secure our borders and allow legal immigration to help build this country, as was the purpose of the immigration laws

Guess who said that? Who else but Sarah Palin!

The half-term—“I can serve the people of Alaska better on Fox News”—Governor of Alaska was on Fox News Sunday (where else?) talking about Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s losing court battle to revive the moribund S.B. 1070 “show me your papers” law.

Catchy sound bites, especially when made on the safety of a facebook page or in a Fox News studio, are pretty easy to construct.  It gets a little more difficult when you try to mix in facts.

Sarah Palin, Governor Jan Brewer, and others who claim Obama doesn’t have the “cojones” to enforce the immigration law may want to read yesterday’s TRAC Immigration Report.  According to the report “newly-released figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that during the first nine months of FY 2010, more non-US citizens were removed from the country than during any similar period in the Bush Administration.”  The report also shows that the “sharp increases in ICE detention and removal of non-U.S. citizens had been accomplished largely by catching noncitizens who had not committed any crimes in this country but who had either crossed the border illegally or had overstayed their visas.”  TRAC also reports a current shift in targeting to noncitizens who have committed crimes in this country.  ICE “has already broken all previous records, and climbed to an all-time high,” according to TRAC.  In fact, under Obama, the removal pace of criminal aliens is 60% higher than under the last year of the Bush administration.

To be sure, I have serious questions about whether ICE is actually engaging in smart enforcement.  Who is really being removed? Is ICE really focusing on terrorists, violent criminals, and drug dealers?  Or are they continuing to inflate the statistics by removing unfortunate folks that somehow got caught in the web of America’s dysfunctional immigration system?  And, like many others, I am also eagerly awaiting signs of significant improvements in the dysfunctional ICE detention apparatus which has claimed the lives of 113 immigrants since 2003.

Yet, to brazenly claim that Obama is soft on immigration enforcement is pure demagoguery.   But I guess speaking the truth takes “cojones.”

Representative Combs after the Injunction

States rethink illegal immigrant bills after Arizona ruling
By Alan Gomez
USA Today, August 02, 2010

Phoenix - Legislators who wanted to bring an Arizona-style immigration law to their own states are changing course after a federal judge temporarily halted the core of Arizona's law.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled last week that key portions of the law could not go into effect, prompting an immediate appeal from Republican Gov. Jan Brewer that could end up before the Supreme Court.

Courtney Combs, a Republican state representative in Ohio, was planning to file a nearly identical bill this week but says he will remove the parts Bolton blocked to avert the possibility of a lawsuit.
Filing an Arizona-style bill "would be wasting taxpayers' money," Combs says. "I think we need to make sure that we comply with what the federal courts come up with." Read full article.
.

Wadsworth, OH Will Consider Resolution Supporting Arizona

Last week the City Council of Wadsworth voted to place a Pro-Arizona/Anti-immigrant resolution on the agenda for a second reading and vote at the next council meeting on August 3rd at 7:00 p.m.
(To view an article regarding the resolution, click here.)
If you can attend, the meeting info is the following:
When: Meeting starts at 7:30.
Where: Wadsworth City Hall, 120 Maple Street, Wadsworth, Ohio 44282.
 In the alternative, please call. 330-335-2759 (couldn't find an email).

Toledo city council may take up illegal immigration issue

It looks like Toledo city council may once again take up the issue of illegal immigration. Two weeks ago, the mayor broke a tie and voted against a council resolution condemning Arizona's new law.

One councilmember who voted against the resolution last time has created a new resolution he thinks is more relevant. Despite budget issues and unemployment, Toledo city council will once again tackle illegal immigration.
Councilman Mike Collins voted against the original resolution because he felt it needed to be more relevant to Ohio. So he's proposing a new measure for consideration. He says, "It touches on the events that took place in Arizona, but the focus goes directly toward Columbus."
Collins resolution differs from the last one in that it calls for sanctions against "perpetrators of human trafficking" and asks Ohio's governor and general assembly to reject measures similar to Arizona's law. "He sent it to me and I looked at it and I said a lot of this stuff looks pretty good."
Click here to read entire story.