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Ballot measure filed to limit illegal immigration benefits Saturday, Apr 5, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A ballot initiative that would require citizenship or an alternate legal status to be verified or expressed before Arkansans over 13 could receive public benefits raised concerns Friday for a statewide advocacy group that opposes punitive laws targeting immigrants in Arkansas. Secure Arkansas, which bills itself as a grassroots organization "committed to the rule of law and the fair treatment of both citizens and legal immigrants," filed the measure March 27 with the attorney general's office. "Keeping illegal aliens from getting on public assistance just any time they want to and taking all of our taxpayer funds, that's really what it's all about," Secure Arkansas chairwoman Jeannie Burlsworth of Bryant said Friday. The measure would require state agencies and political subdivisions to "verify the lawful presence in the United States" of anyone over 13 who has applied for a local, state and certain federal public benefits that are administered by state agencies or political subdivisions. Under the measure, applicants also would be required to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they are lawfully present in the U.S. The measure is cause for concern, said the Rev. Steve Copley, the chairman of the Arkansas Friendship Coalition, a statewide advocacy group made up of church, civic and business leaders that opposes punitive state and municipal laws targeting immigrants in the state. "A law that's really punitive that might cause folks to not settle here or either leave, I think, would have a damaging affect on Arkansas' economy," Copley said. The immigrant population, both legal and illegal, was responsible for a $2.9 billion economic impact in Arkansas in 2004, and also caused 23,100 new jobs to be spun off, according to a 2007 study on immigrants in Arkansas funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller foundation. Illegal immigrants make possible $1.4 billion in production annually for state manufacturers and other companies, which pay them $95 million less than they would legal citizens, the study found. The study's author said Friday that the impact could be greater if American society worked to better educate the children of immigrants. "The children of illegal immigrants represent a potential resource for Arkansas and for the nation," said Donald J. Hernandez, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Center for Social & Demographic Analysis at the University at Albany in New York. "Eventually, these children could contribute to a strong, impressive economy." Arkansas is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the potential, because only one state had higher growth in its immigrant population in the 1990s, Hernandez said. The state's immigrant population grew by 276 percent over the decade. Secure Arkansas' proposal would exclude illegal immigrants from postsecondary education benefits, including scholarships and financial aid, and also would prohibit resident tuition for undocumented individuals. "I don't see us giving scholarships to illegals," Burlsworth said. "I think there's too much of this entitlement mentality, and as taxpayers, we can't subsidize illegal aliens. "When they're here illegally and we can't enforce the law, how can we have law in our state when we won't enforce the law?" she said. Exceptions to the measure would include emergency medical conditions, organ transplants, disaster relief, treatment of disease, prenatal care, soup kitchens, crisis counseling and short-term shelters. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has until April 9 to review the proposed ballot title. If approved, supporters of the measure could begin gathering the required 61,974 signatures needed to place it before voters in November. Burlsworth said she was concerned about clearing the hurdle signature in time, noting that her organization was low on money, but getting new volunteers daily. Copley said the measure could test public sentiments. "It strikes me that in some ways it may be kind of a litmus test of how the feelings really run in Arkansas on this issue," Copley said. |
