Immigration bill heads to the House
Published April 8, 2008
An omnibus immigration bill — one that would aggregate a broad swath of the immigration measures proposed by Missouri lawmakers this year into a single bill — passed the Senate on Thursday with a decisive vote and will move to the House for deliberation.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, contained a provision that would prohibit illegal immigrants from attending Missouri public colleges and universities.
Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, proposed an exemption to the bill that allowed illegal immigrants to attend Missouri colleges and universities if they had attended at least three semesters at a Missouri high school, which was included in the approved bill.
Rupp said he was pleased with the final bill, which passed 26-7.
“We really worked hard to craft a good, quality reform package,” Rupp said Thursday before the Senate voted on the bill.
Rupp said he agreed with Smith’s exemption. He said children of illegal immigrants should not be punished for crimes committed by their parents.
“If your parents brought you here, you had no say in the matter,” Rupp said.
Under federal law, illegal immigrants are barred from receiving public benefits for college.
Smith voted against the measure, despite the fact he entered provisions into the passed bill.
“I think that significantly improves a bill that is generally a bad idea,” Smith said in reference to his additions to the bill.
Smith said the federal government instead of individual state governments should enforce immigration laws.
The bill would also withhold state grants from cities that adopt sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants, bar illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits and driver’s licenses, deny bail for persons in jail if they cannot prove their legal citizenship and bar individuals from harboring or transporting illegal immigrants.
Smith added a provision to the bill that would exempt individuals transporting an illegal immigrant to a medical facility, a soup kitchen, a short-term shelter or a counseling institution.
Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates chairwoman Joan Suarez, who said she doesn’t support the measure, said she approved Smith’s changes to the legislation.
But “it doesn’t go far enough,” she said. “There’s no reason to have that legislation at all.”
Several provisions within the bill pertained to Missouri businesses. The bill would strip business licenses from employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry lobbyist Michael Grote said the bill doesn’t take enough steps to protect Missouri businesses from frivolous lawsuits regarding undocumented workers.
“There are some very strong believers in closing borders off,” Grote said. “Those people will make frivolous claims.”