Daily Oklahoman, November 11, 2005, Friday

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Copyright 2005 Daily Oklahoman
Daily Oklahoman

November 11, 2005, Friday

HEADLINE: State urged to deal with illegal workers

BYLINE: By Paul Monies

BODY:

Better enforcement of federal laws would help solve some of the state's problems relating to undocumented workers and illegal immigration, a legislative task force was told Thursday.
State Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, said Thursday he planned to introduce legislation requiring state employees to report instances of illegal immigration.
Calvey said a training video used by the state Department of Human Services prompted him to introduce the bill. In a statement, he said the video appeared to direct employees to ignore immigration violations.
DHS spokeswoman Stephanie Bond said the training video came from the federal government. In determining eligibility for benefits and services, the department follows guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies.
In a statement, Calvey said his bill would prevent state agencies, cities and counties from implementing any policy that discourages reporting of illegal immigration. The measure also would require state and local employees to report suspected violations of immigration law to federal authorities.
Calvey could not be reached for further comment.
Although immigration policy is set at the federal level, its impact on states and cities can't be ignored, said Vernon Briggs, professor of labor economics at Cornell University in New York.
"The United States has always had a history of planned immigration, but a lot of people don't play by the rules," Briggs told lawmakers gathered for a joint study on immigration and the labor market. "It's out of control and desperately needs to be changed, but it's being ignored by Congress."
Briggs said no firm data exists on the number of illegal aliens. Estimates have put the number in Oklahoma between 55,000 and 85,000, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
Oklahoma taxpayers paid roughly $ 2.35 million in the last fiscal year for emergency health care for 3,500 illegal immigrants, according to figures released by the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority. Much of those costs were for emergency labor and delivery, as well as prenatal care, authority spokesman Nico Gomez said.
Meanwhile, undocumented workers and the employers who hire them are reaping the benefits from a lack of federal enforcement, Briggs said. That harms law-abiding taxpayers and companies, he said.
"Nothing is more expensive than cheap labor," Briggs said.
Jim Curry, president of the Oklahoma AFL-CIO, said unscrupulous contractors using illegal immigrants in the construction industry are underbidding union contractors. That can lead to layoffs at contractors that use union-represented employees.
Michael Hethmon, an attorney for the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, said Oklahoma law has some leeway when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. He advised lawmakers to craft legislation that won't interfere with existing federal law.
Hethmon pointed to a bill by state Sen. Tom Adelson, D-Tulsa, as a good start. Adelson introduced Senate Bill 510 in the last session, but it never made it out of committee. The bill would impose state penalties against employers that hire illegal aliens and let citizens and residents sue those employers.
Adelson said he planned to pursue the bill in the next session.
State Rep. Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, who requested the immigration study along with Adelson, said he was surprised the state was spending $ 2 million on health care for illegal immigrants when many citizens are struggling with their own health care costs.
"It's very unfair to force honest employers and honest employees to compete against people who don't follow the law," Cargill said.
"The state should do more to help hardworking Oklahomans who play by the rules and stop rewarding those who don't."
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