Lawmakers to tackle immigration issues

The Missouri Legislature will consider a series of bills in response to what Gov. Matt Blunt’s office is calling Washington’s failure to fight illegal immigration.

Much of the proposed legislation has the support of the governor and Attorney General Jay Nixon, both of whom are running for governor.

Missouri House Rep. Stanley Cox, a Republican from Pettis County, said the Republican leadership is seeking to bring sanity to a chaotic system.

“I’m on the policy development committee, and I know that we’re making illegal immigration a high priority,” he said.

At the heart of the illegal immigration debate are contractors who hire illegal immigrants for public projects, Cox said.

“This is one of the basic issues debated,” Cox said. One proposal would provide “sanctions against the employers. It requires them to verify the legal status of everyone they hire.”

Here are the proposed House and Senate bills Missourians will hear about when the legislative session starts Wednesday.

• House Bill 1395: Sanctuary for illegal aliens

Sponsored by Rep. Gary Dusenburg, R-Blue Springs, who represents part of Jackson County, this bill prohibits a county, city, town or village from enacting a sanctuary policy. A sanctuary policy is an order, ordinance or policy that prohibits its officials or employees from communicating or cooperating with federal agencies or officials regarding the immigration status of a person in that area.

Any county, city, town or village that enacts a sanctuary policy would be ineligible for any money provided through grants administered by any state agency or department until the sanctuary policy is repealed or no longer in effect.

Local police also would be required to report anyone they do not reasonably believe to be in the country legally to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

• HB 1346 — Missouri Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act

House Bill 1346, sponsored by Rep. Charles Portwood, R-Ballwin, who represents part of St. Louis County, would make it a felony for people to knowingly transport and conceal an undocumented person.

The bill authorizes business entities, agencies of the state, educational institutions, professional organizations and labor unions to create documents to identify their employees, customers, members and students.

Identification for state agencies and public educational institutions could only be issued to people who are in the United States legally.

Local police would be required to make a reasonable effort to verify the citizenship status of anyone charged with a felony, driving while intoxicated or driving with excessive blood alcohol content.

If the person in jail were a foreign national, local police would have to try to verify his status through documents in the person’s possession, or within 48 hours, through an inquiry to the United States Department of Homeland Security. If lawful status could not be verified, DHS would be notified.

Public employers would be required to participate in the federal verification system to verify the work authorization status of all new employees. If the public employer does not participate, it could not get state contracts.

Independent contractors would have to prove that their employees have permission to work in the United States before doing business with Missouri.

The bill requires state agencies to verify the lawful presence in the United States of any applicant who is 14 or older before getting federal, state, or local public benefits administered by the agency, subject to exceptions. Verification of status would not be required in cases of emergency medical treatment; short-term emergency disaster relief; public health assistance for immunizations against communicable diseases; assistance such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention; and services at the community level through public and private non-profit agencies.

Also, people who are not lawfully present in the United State would not be eligible for scholarships, financial aid or resident tuition.

• HB 1434: Employment of illegal aliens

This law would require people and businesses that have been convicted of knowingly accepting any state-administered or subsidized tax credit, tax abatement, or loan while employing illegal aliens to repay the state the amount that was given to them, in addition to any other penalty under the law. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Edward Wildberger, Buchanan County.

• HB 1463: Admission of illegal aliens to public institutions of higher education

This bill, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nolte, of Clay County, would prohibit the admission of undocumented people to public institutions of higher education. The registrar of each institution would have to annually certify to the appropriation committees of the General Assembly that the institution has not knowingly admitted any illegal alien before the approval of any appropriations.

• Senate Bill 858: Modifies the law relating to illegal immigrants

This amendment, sponsored by Sen. Scott Rupp, of Wentzville, whose district includes Lincoln County and part of St. Charles County, would hold employers accountable for their contractors and subcontractors who hire unauthorized aliens.

Under this amendment, employers who know or should know they are employing undocumented workers on projects involving state-administered or subsidized tax credits, tax abatements or loans from the state would be fined up to $25,000 per unauthorized alien for a first offense and up to $50,000 per undocumented workers for subsequent offenses. Those who intentionally hire undocumented workers and pay them with state funds would be banned from future projects administered by the agency in question.

• SB 750: Denies issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens

Under this bill, sponsored by Sen. Jason Crowell, of Cape Girardeau, the Department of Revenue would be prohibited from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants or people who cannot prove legal residence. A driver’s license issued to an illegal immigrant by another state would not be honored by the state of Missouri or the Department of Revenue for any purpose. Crowell represents the counties of Perry, Madison, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau.