CNS STORY: Oklahoma lawmaker plans second law on immigration, criticizes bishop

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SLATTERY-LAWMAKER Dec-7-2007 (720 words) With FAMILY-RETURN of Dec. 6, 2007, and photo posted Dec. 6. xxxn

Oklahoma lawmaker plans second law on immigration, criticizes bishop

By Marilyn Duck
Catholic News Service

TULSA, Okla. (CNS) -- The state lawmaker who wrote a new Oklahoma statute on illegal immigration that is considered one of the harshest such laws in the nation has said he plans to follow it up with "son of H.B. 1804" when the Legislature convenes in January.

The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, also known as H.B. 1804, took effect Nov. 1.

Republican State Rep. Randy Terrill also said Tulsa Bishop Edward J. Slattery's Nov. 26 pastoral letter concerning the law was "noble but misguided."

Terrill said Catholic leaders oppose the law because "the fastest-growing parishes in Catholicism are non-English-speaking" and that "a good portion" of their congregations "are illegal aliens."

His remarks were quoted in the Nov. 29 Tulsa World daily newspaper. The following day, Bishop Slattery told a news conference he has been advised by attorneys that the new law is unconstitutionally vague and will not withstand scrutiny in the federal courts.

"It'll be too late by then," he said, noting that many immigrants, legal as well as illegal, have already fled the state and are continuing to flee.

"The law is designed to put fear in the people so they will leave, and they are. The law is working," Bishop Slattery said.

It makes it a felony to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal alien and creates specific barriers to hiring illegal immigrants. It requires proof of citizenship to obtain certain government benefits and requires all state agencies and contractors to check the immigration status of all workers after July 1, 2008.

The bishop's pastoral is titled "The Suffering Faces of the Poor Are the Suffering Face of Christ" ("Los rostros sufrientes de los pobres son el rostro sufriente de Cristo").

It calls for equal accessibility to all Catholic programs regardless of legal status, and pledges to provide legal assistance through Catholic Charities to those who need help in establishing or maintaining their legal residence in this country.

It says the diocese will work with legal agencies to prepare a standardized "power of attorney" form that parents can use to indicate who should assume guardianship over their dependent children should those parents be arrested and face deportation. It also will provide Catholic foster care for parents who have formally indicated who should care for their children.

In his press conference remarks Nov. 30, he said Terrill "didn't do his homework" when the representative told the Tulsa World that the diocesan Catholic Charities agency receives some taxpayer money. "Let's call a spade a spade," the lawmaker said.

But the same story quoted Kevin Sartorius, an official with Catholic Charities of the Tulsa Diocese, who pointed out that federal funding accounts for less than 2 percent of the agency's budget, and none of it is used to benefit illegal immigrants.

Bishop Slattery said Catholic Charities receives $48,000 to resettle refugees who are brought to the diocese by federal officials and another $15,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for emergency food distribution.

"I wonder on how many other things he didn't do his homework," Bishop Slattery said.

The bishop reiterated his long-standing view that immigration reform is desperately needed, and it must come at the federal level. He predicted reform will come but not until after the '08 elections. He also said he believes the immigration system's multiple problems will be addressed no matter who wins the election.

Politicians do not have "strong enough character" to address the inequities if it is going to cost them votes, he said. "It's a lack of courage. No one wants to lead anymore."

He said H.B. 1804 or any subsequent legislation that denies such fundamental rights as citizenship being granted to all people born in the Unites States or makes English the official state language -- both possibilities floated by Terrill -- simply will not stand constitutional muster.

"There is no good argument for the law," the bishop said. "Yes, they are in this country illegally, but we cannot send them back; there are too many. That can't happen. The borders need to be closed off. But this law is not the answer. It (causes) a lot of unnecessary suffering."

And, he added, "states shouldn't be allowed to set their own immigration policy."

END

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