|
|
|
A tense Beacon Hill debate on immigration reignited Tuesday as Gov. Deval Patrick pledged to pursue a pair of controversial policies, drawing an immediate, pointed rebuke from the House minority leader, who just days earlier discussed repairing relations with the governor.
Patrick, who eschewed a concerted push on controversial immigration proposals in his first term, told an audience gathered by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition at Boston’s Tremont Temple that he would implement all 131 recommendations in a year-old administration report. The report includes controversial plans to provide in-state tuition rates and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“I want to commit to you that we will implement this report in its entirety,” Patrick said.
Patrick decried the tenor of the debate on immigration.
“The spirit of human kindness and compassion will flourish in this commonwealth. We will do what we can,” he said. “I know that embracing newcomers is out of fashion these days. The concern over illegal immigration has become so shrill that all immigrants get swept up in that emotion. I want you to know that you are welcome here in this commonwealth. This is your commonwealth. This is your home.”
The bulk of the report addresses issues of integration for Massachusetts’s estimated 900,000 immigrants, about 14.1 percent of the state’s population, according to a 2009 study by the Immigrant Learning Center at UMass Boston. The report calls for access to English language programs for foreign-born residents, access to adult education programs and state services, and civil rights protections.
Although the report calls for in-state tuition and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, both would first require changes in federal law, Patrick told reporters. The governor, who has already announced he has no plans to seek a third term, pledged to work with the state’s Congressional delegation to implement them.
Comprehensive, national immigration reform has proven a divisive and heated national issue, although Gov. Bill Richardson, a New Mexico Democrat, told reporters Saturday that the election of four new Hispanic lawmakers to Congress slightly improves the odds.
Even before Patrick reignited the debate in Massachusetts, immigration issues had been poised to become a flashpoint on Beacon Hill in the upcoming two-year legislative session.
Pro-immigrant forces, emboldened by Patrick’s reelection, plan to push for policy changes to promote integration, expanded access to English language courses, adult education and complete health care coverage for new, legal immigrants.
A tense Beacon Hill debate on immigration reignited Tuesday as Gov. Deval Patrick pledged to pursue a pair of controversial policies, drawing an immediate, pointed rebuke from the House minority leader, who just days earlier discussed repairing relations with the governor.
Patrick, who eschewed a concerted push on controversial immigration proposals in his first term, told an audience gathered by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition at Boston’s Tremont Temple that he would implement all 131 recommendations in a year-old administration report. The report includes controversial plans to provide in-state tuition rates and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“I want to commit to you that we will implement this report in its entirety,” Patrick said.
Patrick decried the tenor of the debate on immigration.
“The spirit of human kindness and compassion will flourish in this commonwealth. We will do what we can,” he said. “I know that embracing newcomers is out of fashion these days. The concern over illegal immigration has become so shrill that all immigrants get swept up in that emotion. I want you to know that you are welcome here in this commonwealth. This is your commonwealth. This is your home.”
The bulk of the report addresses issues of integration for Massachusetts’s estimated 900,000 immigrants, about 14.1 percent of the state’s population, according to a 2009 study by the Immigrant Learning Center at UMass Boston. The report calls for access to English language programs for foreign-born residents, access to adult education programs and state services, and civil rights protections.
Although the report calls for in-state tuition and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, both would first require changes in federal law, Patrick told reporters. The governor, who has already announced he has no plans to seek a third term, pledged to work with the state’s Congressional delegation to implement them.
Comprehensive, national immigration reform has proven a divisive and heated national issue, although Gov. Bill Richardson, a New Mexico Democrat, told reporters Saturday that the election of four new Hispanic lawmakers to Congress slightly improves the odds.
Even before Patrick reignited the debate in Massachusetts, immigration issues had been poised to become a flashpoint on Beacon Hill in the upcoming two-year legislative session.
Pro-immigrant forces, emboldened by Patrick’s reelection, plan to push for policy changes to promote integration, expanded access to English language courses, adult education and complete health care coverage for new, legal immigrants.
“One thing that we are thankful for is that Governor Patrick has reassured the commonwealth that as long as he’s the governor, he’s not going to sign any Arizona-type of law,” Eva Millona, executive director of the MIRA Coalition, told the News Service. “The message is clear, Massachusetts will not become Arizona.”
Millona cited the rejection by voters of Republican Jeff Perry in a Cape Cod Congressional race. Perry, who proposed measures in the Massachusetts House to impose more stringent background checks for those seeking to access state services, took a hard line on immigration issues during his race.
“He ran in an area that Senator Brown won [by] 20 percent, and he lost,” Millona said. “I think that we sent the right message to the legislature that running with an anti-immigrant agenda … is not what this state needs.”
But a new crop of legislative Republicans, many who ran on pledges to crack down on illegal immigration, could tip the scales in an already divided Legislature in favor of tougher policies.
Last session, the state Senate adopted a strict crackdown on employers and contractors who hire illegal immigrants and tougher penalties for those caught driving without a license, measures opposed by immigrant advocates and the chamber’s liberal wing.
The passage of the immigration law in Arizona, permitting state and local police to detain suspected illegal immigrants, as well as polls showing broad support in Massachusetts for stiffer residency checks for access state services have intensified the dialogue.
The in-state tuition proposal, which Patrick endorsed during his first run for governor, has failed to gain momentum in the face of opposition from critics who claim it provides a benefit to the children of undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens and provides an incentive for illegal immigration. Backers say existing proposals would only apply to those who had attained high school diplomas in Massachusetts and that it would actually generate revenue by enabling more students to afford tuition.
“This isn’t about taking away from any citizen. It’s not about some special benefit,” Patrick told reporters. “It’s about treating kids who have been raised in Massachusetts the same … And if they are trying to sort out and regularize their immigration status, which is a condition I think is important, then I think we should treat them like the kids who studied across the aisle from them in Massachusetts.”
In a Tuesday statement, House Minority Leader Brad Jones said in-state tuition plans had failed before and would again.
“I am confident speaking on behalf of the entire Republican Caucus in saying Governor Patrick’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates is not only a ridiculous idea but also a slap in the face to all Massachusetts taxpayers who expect state government to be focusing on stimulating the economy and putting people back to work,” he said in a statement. “Providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants should not be a priority of Governor Patrick and the fact that it is does not shock me, but it certainly disappoints me.”
Jones saw his Republican caucus double to 32 on Election Day – pending two recounts. Many of the incoming members took a hard line on illegal immigration, including in-state tuition rates:
“Those persons who have crossed borders by illegal means should not be provided the same liberties, rights, and privileges as law abiding citizens,” said Rep.-elect Steven Howitt (R-Seekonk), who defeated incumbent Democrat Steve D’Amico, on his campaign web site.
“The current proposal to extend in state tuition and other government benefits to illegal immigrants doesn't make sense,” reads the web site of Republican David Vieira, who ousted Democratic Rep. Matt Patrick in his Falmouth district.
Nick Boldyga, the Republican who beat Democratic Rep. Rosemary Sandlin of Agawam, pledges to oppose in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants on his web site.
Republican Marc Lombardo, who is succeeding Democrat William Greene in his Billerica district, said in-state tuition for illegal immigrants “makes no sense.”
In April, a crackdown on access to state services failed in the House 82-75. The following month, the Senate adopted more sweeping restrictions 28-10, but the plan was dropped during budget negotiations with the House.
Republicans say they are unclear what specific proposals they will file next year but agree that a renewed push to restrict access to state services is forthcoming.
Over the weekend, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, speaking at a meeting of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors in Phoenix, thanked the group for not boycotting Arizona over its immigration law, which he advised Gov. Jan Brewer not to sign. Richardson said boycotts hurt immigration workers who he said played a major role in Arizona’s hospitality and tourism industries.
The law empowers local law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants, a level of empowerment that critics say is unconstitutional and fosters racial profiling. “I see this law as having real problems and my concern is that it’s spreading to other states,” said Richardson, who expressed hope that the courts would strike down the Arizona law.
Mark Spencer, the president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, said in an email that he has spoken with legislators in Virginia, Rhode Island, Texas and Iowa about implementing proposals similar to Arizona’s, that Utah is preparing a bill and that his organization met last week with police associations in three border states.
Asked about the prospect of a similar law advancing in Massachusetts, Patrick said, “I just don’t think an Arizona-type law is right for us, and as long as I have anything to say, it won’t be.”
The chances of passing a federal immigration bill have improved, though “not dramatically” due to the election of four Hispanic Republican members of Congress, he said. “I say this not just because this is a border issue. There are Hispanics in every state,” said Richardson, who is leaving office after two terms.
Richardson said illegal immigration is “almost a daily issue” for governors in states bordering Mexico and said there had been a “significant decline” in illegal border crossings and border violence. A reform bill should include the use of technology and the National Guard to secure borders, deploy a crackdown on those who hire illegal immigrants, include efforts to improve the “broken” and “understaffed” legal immigration system, and launch a system to deal with that he estimated at 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Deporting all illegal immigrants is “not realistic,” he said, calling for a system of accountability that would take years to implement but which would allow individuals, after getting behind those already trying to be here legally, to learn English, pay back taxes and fines and pass background checks. “It is a legalization. It’s not amnesty. It’s not automatic citizenship,” Richardson said.
A member of Congress for 15 years and former Clinton administration energy secretary, Richardson said: “You never win any votes dealing with this immigration, either way. You probably lose votes and those that probably support you do so because at least you’re dealing with a tough issue.”
