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Old 10-01-2011, 11:08 AM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Default Okla. immigration chair sees little need for law

Okla. immigration chair sees little need for law
By Sean Murphy
The Associated Press, September 29, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The new co-chairman of a legislative panel on illegal immigration said Thursday he sees no pressing need in Oklahoma for more legislation on the issue, prompting outrage from some hardline proponents of a crackdown on illegal immigrants.
After four hours of testimony at a House interim study, state Rep. Charles Ortega said he heard no evidence supporting the need for broad immigration-related reforms.
"I keep hearing and have heard and continue to hear that because the cost is so monumental we need to really address this issue and impose these laws and penalties," said Ortega, R-Altus, the new co-chair of a joint House and Senate panel on illegal immigration. "But when you go to criminalizing people and you go to criminalizing businesses and you go to disrupting lives, I think we need to be careful where we tread in that area."
Ortega's comments drew immediate outrage from those who support harsher laws targeting illegal immigrants, including state Sen. Ralph Shortey, who represents a heavily Hispanic district in south Oklahoma City.
He said allowing Ortega to lead the immigration committee "is just like having Osama bin Laden as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. You have a chairman who doesn't want to have meaningful immigration reform."
"Come to south Oklahoma City and you'll see that we have a very big need," Shortey said.
Shortey, who was elected last year after campaigning on the need to crack down on illegal immigration, sponsored bills to deny Oklahoma citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants, make English the state's official language, and another, dubbed "Arizona-plus," that would allow police to confiscate property belonging to those in the country illegally, among other things. None of the bills cleared the Legislature.
Illegal immigration has been a tricky issue for Republicans because the push for a tougher crackdown has collided with another Republican priority — creating a pro-business environment — and business and industry leaders have quietly resisted attempts to add more restrictions on the hiring of illegal immigrant workers.
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http://www.chron.com/news/article/Ok...ees-little-nee...
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