Mexicans GO Home

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republican leaders have begun crafting anti-illegal-immigrant legislation modeled after an Arizona law that has incited widespread protests and fueled national and international debate over U.S. immigration policies.

Under the proposed bill, police would have broad power under state law to ask suspects for proof of legal residency, said Rep. William Snyder, a Republican from Stuart who plans to introduce the legislation in November.

“We have significant components from the Arizona bill that I plan to incorporate,” he said. “We have the beginnings of it.”

The effort, which would be filed for consideration during the March legislative session, is already drawing broad support within the GOP.

Majority leaders in the Florida Senate and House said a new approach is needed to address the federal government’s failure to temper illegal immigration.

It has the backing of both leading Republican gubernatorial candidates — businessman Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum, whose office is helping to draft the bill.

Snyder, a former police officer, said the proposed legislation is needed to protect undocumented immigrants, who are vulnerable to abusive employers and violent criminals.

“This is a human right issue,” he said. “They don’t enjoy the same rights and privileges that you and I do. The solution is to enforce the laws that currently exist and to discourage people from coming here to `find a better life’ when in fact they just come here and are victimized.

via - MiamiHerald.com.

posted by USA Citizen

A Nebraska town, angry over a surge in the number of Hispanic residents, is voting today in a referendum on a new law that would require foreign nationals to get a licence to live in the town.

The referendum in Fremont has been prompted by a sharp rise in Hispanic people drawn by work at local meatpacking plants combined with fears over job losses and demand placed on the town’s social services because of the economic downturn.

If approved, tenants who are not US-citizens would be required to get an “occupancy licence” from the city council. Even residents of nursing homes would be required to obtain such a licence.

Federal law requires employers to verify the immigration status of workers but the proposed Fremont law would also open violators to local sanctions. Supporters insist it is not racist and is essential to protect jobs, healthcare and education for local people because the town’s Hispanic population has surged from 165 to more than 2,000 in the past 20 years.

It is unclear what proportion of those are in the US illegally but the big meatpacking plants where many work say they only employ people whose immigrant status has been verified. The Fremont Tribune has reported cases of Hispanic people, who are legal residents, being verbally abused and told to return to Mexico.

Jerry Hart, one of the three sponsors of the legislation, told the Fremont Tribune that the proposed law is in part a security measure. “The federal law was put into place for a reason – to control how many people come into this country and to regulate the people, so they don’t have communicable diseases and are not bringing in drugs or having criminal records and these people who are sneaking in – you don’t know what you’re getting. We could have terrorists and gang members and people involved in drugs,” he said.

John Wiegert, another of the sponsors of the referendum, said: “A lot of them are coming here for the American dream and they’re causing nothing but an American nightmare to me.”

via The Guardian.

posted by USA Citizen

Arizona’s tough new immigration enforcement law is fueling an exodus of Hispanics from the state seven weeks before it goes into effect, according to officials and residents in the state.

Though no one has precise figures, reports from school officials, businesses and individuals indicate worried Hispanics — both legal and illegal — are leaving the state in anticipation of the law, which will go into effect July 29.

Schools in Hispanic areas report unusual drops in enrollment. The Balsz Elementary School District is 75% Hispanic, and within a month of the law’s passage, the parents of 70 students pulled them out of school, said District Superintendent Jeffrey Smith. The district lost seven students over the same one-month period last year, and parents tell Smith the Arizona law is the reason for leaving.

“They’re leaving to another state where they feel more welcome,” he said.

The measure, signed into law April 23 by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, requires a police officer to determine a person’s immigration status if they are stopped, detained or arrested and there is “reasonable suspicion” they are in the country illegally.

About 100,000 illegal immigrants left Arizona after the state passed a law in 2007 that enhanced penalties on businesses that hired them, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Some early signs suggest another exodus.

Businesses serving the Hispanic community say business is down, signaling that illegal immigrants are holding on to cash in anticipation of a move from the state, said David Castillo, co-founder of the Latin Association of Arizona, a chamber of commerce for nearly 400 first-generation Hispanic business owners.

“(Brewer) signed the law, and everything fell apart,” Castillo said. “It’s devastating.”

Jorge Vargas plans to move to New York City because his air-conditioning business relies mostly on Hispanics. “My business is completely dead,” he said.

Juan Carlos Cruz, an illegal immigrant who has worked in plant nurseries for 20 years, huddled with dozens of relatives over the Memorial Day Weekend in the backyard of his brother’s Phoenix-area home to plot out the family’s next move to avoid what they say will be harassment by police. Virginia and California are the front-runners.

“If I were alone, I’d try to stay. But I have a family, and I have to find a place where we can live with more freedom,” said Cruz, who hopes to move July 4 to blend in with holiday weekend traffic. “This is getting too hard.”

Paul Senseman, a spokesman for Brewer, said it’s difficult to gauge how many people are leaving because of the law, but he said he hears similar reports of people leaving the state.

“If that means that fewer people are breaking the law, that is absolutely an accomplishment,” he said.

posted by USA Citizen