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 Post subject: Sen. Kruse to co-chair Immigration Study Committee
PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:25 pm 
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The names of all committee members haven’t been posted on the government website yet but I hear Sen. Delph, R-Carmel and Sen. Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso will be on the committee co-chaired by Sen. Kruse-R and Rep. Pelath-D.

Stay tuned! Keep those emails flowing to your state legislators. Keep submitting letters to the editor that address some of the concerns covered in this column. Watch the Indiana Legislation section of the IFIRE forum for updates.



http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs. ... /807030311

State study of immigration fraught with complications
Result must be humane and politically viable.
A column by Kevin Leininger
of The News-Sentinel
Indiana's Medicaid program spent about $18 million on emergency services for illegal immigrants in 2006 - most of it on health care for mothers giving birth to children who automatically became full-fledged U.S. citizens.

If that complication wasn't enough to doom this year's attempt to address the situation in the Indiana General Assembly, pressure from business interests and ethnic lobbyists was.

So an area legislator is only too aware of the very large bull's-eye on his back as he prepares to co-chair a committee charged with studying illegal immigration's effect on Indiana - and with crafting a humane, effective and politically viable response to a problem not of its making and largely beyond its control.

“I always go into things with optimism, and maybe we'll be able to reach consensus on some points,” said State Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, chosen by Senate President Pro-Tem David Long to lead the House-Senate study committee with Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City. “I don't want to break up families, but if we pick and choose little bits, perhaps we can get something done.”

That kind of minimalism was lacking in the immigration bill authored by Mike Delph, R-Carmel - dubbed “Sen. Diablo” (devil) by an Indianapolis Latino newspaper - which passed the Republican-controlled Senate in January before dying in the House, where Democrats hold a slim majority. Among other things, Delph's bill would have punished companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants by revoking their business license for up to 10 years.

That approach, Kruse said, could have jeopardized hundreds or even thousands of jobs - hurting the state's economy and employees whose only crime was to work for unscrupulous bosses. He would prefer to impose stiff penalties on people who profit from the smuggling and transportation of illegal immigrants.

But Kruse and Long, R-Fort Wayne, know good legislation must be built upon good data - something they agree is lacking where Indiana's 55,000 to 85,000 illegal immigrants are concerned.

“We need good, hard numbers on the effect on our schools, welfare, crime. How many do we have? How many people have been denied jobs (that went to illegal immigrants)?” Long said. “There is a lot of demagoguery on this issue, but Americans who pay taxes and don't want to subsidize people here illegally expect (legislators) to do the best we can, and that's a fair request. Immigrants who are here legally don't have a problem with us cracking down.”

The Constitution might, however.

Because regulation of immigration and enforcement of the borders is properly the responsibility of the federal government, any state attempt to curb or punish illegal immigration is almost certain to attract legal scrutiny - especially from groups looking for cheap labor, ethnic clout or reliable votes. “We don't want to be unconstitutional,” said Kruse, whose 14th District includes Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties.

For that reason, Long said, any resulting bill may focus on limiting state services to people here illegally. Legislation may also help schools and other institutions cope with the cost and chaos that uncontrolled immigration inevitably creates.

And therein rests the perversity of this lingering national disgrace: A growing number of states, unable to care for their own citizens, want to attack illegal immigration but are limited by their lack of constitutional authority. The federal government, meanwhile - which has the authority to act - lacks the will, aided and abetted by everyone from corporate executives to church leaders whose compassion exceeds their judgment.

Kruse knows the need to respect the rule of law must be weighed against the real human costs that would come with any attempt to roll back decades of bureaucratic aiding, abetting and indifference. “We have a whole series of laws we don't enforce,” he said, and that's true enough.

But as America prepares to celebrate its independence, it's worth pondering how borders bought with the blood of patriots are today often dismissed as irrelevant, xenophobic or worse. The open-borders crowd seems not to notice the irony of pursuing the American Dream by undermining the sovereignty of the nation without which that dream could not exist.

I wish Kruse luck. He'll need it.
________________________________________
Kevin Leininger's column reflects his opinion, not necessarily that of The News-Sentinel. Contact him at kleininger@news-sentinel.com, or call 461-8355.


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