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1. Sen. Hatch to propose bill
2. IN Gov. faces pressure
3. VA legislator gives speech
4. CO lawmaker withdraws bill
5. Tuition bill gains support

1.
Sen. Orrin Hatch to propose illegal immigration bill
By Kramer Philips
The State Column, February 15, 2011

Utah U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch will reportedly propose a bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration in the state, just one week after the Utah Republican said he did not expect congress to address the issue.

“My bill is not the end-all and be-all for every immigration problem,” Mr. Hatch said, “but it represents a very important beginning in what needs to be an ongoing process.”

The move by Mr. Hatch follows calls by state Republicans, who have put forth number of bills aimed addressing immigration reform.

Mr. Hatch’s proposed bill would secure the borders, while proposing a plan to begin deporting undocumented immigrants. The Utah Republican remained mum on details, simply saying it represented a first step.
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http://www.thestatecolumn.com/state_politics/utah/sen-orrin-hatch-to-pro...

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2.
Daniels faces tea party heat on AZ-style immigration bill
By Maggie Haberman
Politico (DC), February 15, 2011

A tough, Arizona-style anti-immigration bill in the Indiana state Legislature has put Gov. Mitch Daniels — who is mum on whether he backs it — on a collision course with tea party activists who see it as a big priority and could have national implications for the Indiana governor in a GOP presidential primary.

Daniels, who’s mulling a White House run in 2012 and won rave reviews for his CPAC speech last weekend, has yet to take a stand on legislation introduced by State Sen. Mike Delph that died under Democratic-controlled Legislatures in each of the last several years — but faces greatly improved odds of passing this time around.
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The latest version of the measure creates tough enforcement provisions, requiring cops to ask for proof of immigration status if they have “reasonable” suspicion about someone they’ve stopped for an unrelated issue — like blowing a traffic light. It also creates strict penalties for employers of illegals.

And this year, the Indiana House of Representatives came under GOP control after a 2010 election shift — upping the chances that the legislation will pass and that Daniels, who’s made his reputation as a fiscal conservative, will end up having to take a stand on the thorny social issue.

Already, tea party activists — who are expected to be influential in the Republican primary process - are demanding Daniels show his cards and come out in support of the bill.

"Frankly, I think it separates him, the men from the boys, on whether he's going to make a stand on something that's important," said Lisa Deaton, founder of the tea party group We The People Indiana, who supports the measure known as SB 590.

"I believe [Daniels] should step up to the plate and say what he really believes. ... I think he needs to hold everyone to the law equally, there cannot be picking and choosing. I would expect him as governor or president to do exactly that."

Delph told POLITICO he hasn’t spoken to Daniels about the bill, but said, “Leadership requires decision-making. ... I think we have a real problem in the state of Indiana. Indiana has become a sanctuary state with regards to immigration.”

Mark Leyva, a Lake County tea party organizer, said, "[Daniels] may be in a different position because of the way he may think of issues he wants to stay from” — a reference to the governor’s controversial pitch last year for the GOP to stop fighting over divisive social issues.

“If there's somebody that's going to run for president, this should be one of the top priorities,” Leyva said. “(Especially) if a conservative, a true conservative, is worried about getting our country back on track. It all fits into fiscal responsibility. I would hope that he supports it because i think the will of the people support it."

He added, "We need people that are going to Washington to have those same beliefs" of fiscal responsibility and "upholding our constitutional law."

Mike Murphy, a former state representative and a fellow Republican who is now a consultant for the bill's opposition, said it's not a surprise that Daniels is keeping quiet, since the legislation has another few months to go through redrafts and may look ultimately look a different in its final version.

Still, it draws the heat on Daniels at important moment as he emerges onto the GOP stage, and on a flashpoint issue that has bedeviled Republicans and Democrats alike.

"No politician of either party can win on the immigration issue, unless they're running to their party's ideological base," said Dan Schnur, of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and chairman of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

"The great irony is that Mitch Daniels faces the same political cross-pressures from his party that Barack Obama faces from his [on immigration]."

The Indiana bill, which is modeled closely after the Arizona law that dominated many Western state elections last year, would mandate cops who have a "reasonable suspicion" about someone they stop for an unrelated violation to ask for proof of immigration status.

It would also call for most government meetings, documents and web pages to be only in English, and would quash illegal immigrants from services like in-state college tuition rates, and would call for Indiana to ask the feds to reimburse them for the costs associated with illegal immigrants.

The other portion of the bill tries to rap employers who use illegal workers, nixing tax incentives for each one used and trying to prompt more use of E-verify, the federal system that provides immigration status checks. Those provisions have the state’s Chamber of Commerce strongly opposing the bill.

Murphy noted that the governor's office conducted a cost impact study on the bill and fixed it with a roughly $5 million price tag for enforcement — something he said he sees as an indication that Daniels' team is leaning against it. He also noted the governor has historically had strong relations with the growing Hispanic population, adding, "He speaks Spanish as a second language."

Daniels, while being conservative, has also bucked some of the GOP orthodoxy, such as calling last year for a "truce" on culture wars to deal with the budget perils facing the country.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a non-partisan group, said If Daniels has any designs on higher office, he'll tread carefully.

“That could include sitting on it and deliberating it but it probably would not mean coming out openly against it," Krikorian said.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49484.html

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3.
Manassas triple-slaying sparks emotional floor speech about illegal immigration
By Anita Kumar
The Washington Post, February 14, 2011

Days after an illegal immigrant was accused of a triple murder in Manassas, a frustrated and angry Del. Jackson Miller took to the House floor Monday to decry the growing problem of "illegal immigration criminals" in his Prince William County district.

"My city is in flames right now! What else am I supposed to do but stand up and scream about these atrocities?'' Miller (R) said in a speech Monday. "My city is falling apart with huge problems in relation to illegal immigration and it is time for us to stop blaming the federal government."

Police say Jose Oswaldo Reyes-Alfaro, 37, a Salvadoran national who was in the country illegally, fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and two other people and wounded three more Friday night in Manassas. The incident occurred a mile from Miller's home.

Miller listed a number of illegal immigrants accused of crimes in Prince William, including Carlos A. Martinelly Montano, an illegal immigrant from Bolivia, accused of killing a Catholic nun in a drunk-driving accident.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2011/02/manassas_murde...

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4.
Bill for Arizona-style immigrant crackdown shelved; panel OKs jail checks
By Kile Glazier
The Denver Post, February 15, 2011

The sponsor of a bill requiring Colorado to enact an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration withdrew it from consideration Monday, while a bill offering incentives for local governments to participate in federal immigration enforcement passed a committee.

Rep. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, killed his House Bill 1107 over what he said were concerns about the costs of fighting off legal attacks questioning the bill's constitutionality.

The bill, described by critics as a copycat of Arizona's controversial Senate Bill 1070, would have required all local police to attempt to determine whether a person being questioned was in the country illegally. The bill also would have criminalized acts such as stopping on a street to hire an undocumented worker or knowingly concealing an illegal immigrant.

Baumgardner said he did not know what the Senate might have done with the bill but was confident it would have passed the House. It would have been fiscally irresponsible to proceed with the bill, Baumgardner said.

"With the economy the way it is, I didn't feel it was right to burden the people of Colorado," he said.

House Bill 1140, sponsored by Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, passed out of a committee on a 7-4 vote. Balmer's bill offers local governments an incentive to participate in the Secure Communities Initiative. Secure Communities, a program of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, creates a national fingerprint database that allows all people booked into a jail to be checked against Department of Homeland Security records for each person's immigration status.
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http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_17388917

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5.
Immigrant education bill gains support
By Peter Wong
The Statesman Journal (OR), February 15, 2011

Some students, regardless of their immigration status, would pay tuition at state universities at the same rates as other Oregon residents under a bill that is likely to mimic some aspects of the national debate about immigration.

The bill, which has surfaced in previous sessions, has Democratic and Republican cosponsors.

Advocates said the bill would benefit students such as Jessica Garcia, now a sophomore at North Eugene High School, who moved to the United States with her mother when she was 1 year old. She competes in track and cross-country and would like to become a microbiologist.

"I do know that I want to attend a school where they have a big lab so I can do awesome science experiments," she said at a Capitol news conference. "Unfortunately, I also know that the cost of a university degree is up to three times as much for me compared to my peers. Tuition equity would make it possible for me to afford a university education in Oregon."

The bill specifies conditions for students to qualify for in-state tuition rates: three years at an Oregon high school, graduation from an Oregon high school, admission to a state university, and actively working toward U.S. citizenship.

"Oregon's college students believe in tuition equity," said Farbodd Ganjifard, a board member of the Oregon Student Association and co-chair of its Oregon Students of Color Coalition. "At the end of the day, we know that there is no downside to our state having a more educated workforce."
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http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110215/STATE/102150311/Immigrant-education-bill-gains-support?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|s