The New Hampshire House of Representatives opened its new session today.
And among the myriad of bills that will face lawmakers in the upcoming months are at least ten bills addressing legal and illegal immigration.
Senate leadership is sponsoring a measure that would crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants, and give local law enforcement the authority to detain them.
Critics, however, remain skeptical that New Hampshire even has a problem.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports.
Republican Senator Dick Green is frustrated.
He says he and a lot of people in the state are upset with federal officials who permit illegal immigrants to remain in the country.
The issue came to a head in New Hampshire last summer when a state court ruled that local police could not ticket or arrest people for trespassing if they are undocumented.
Five months later the Legislature finds itself considering a pack of bills aimed at giving the state more say in how to deal with the issue.
Senator Green's bill would, in part, grant the state Department of Labor the power to investigate employers.
T.18
1:13 basically, it's going to call for inspections, to make sure the employers are not hiring illegal immigrants. It's going to call for penalties if they are. And it will also call for waiting periods to hold these people until the feds can do what they've got to do in terms of removing them from the state.
Under his proposal, Green says if the state Department of Labor found any undocumented immigrants, officials would have to report that to local law enforcement.
Green believes this is an effective deterrent to both employers and employees.
The Senator says he is sponsoring the bill, along with Senate President Ted Gatsas and Majority Leader Bob Clegg, because he says illegal immigrants are draining the state coffers.
Senator Clegg made the same point speaking earlier this week on New Hampshire Public Radio's 'The Exchange.'
9:01 the issue with immigration in NH is the fact they come in, they get medical care, they don't have insurance, they aren't paying into the system. There was a case in Manchester where someone came in, over $200,000 was spent on the medical condition only to find they were an illegal alien. They had been working here, the employer knew they were illegal, it boils down to we pay for that medical care. So it's starting to add up on the cost of our health insurance.
Clegg's anecdote is the kind that sticks in people's minds.
18:06 let's go to Moultonborough next, and Mike is on the Exchange...go ahead Mike you are on the air....I got kind of steamed when I heard that these immigrants were coming into the state and getting $200,000 worth of health care. I have a fairly serious health condition, and I can't get even get it treated here. b/c I don't have any health insurance.
In the debate over immigration, anecdotes are plentiful.
It's hard to find a comprehensive analysis of the problem in NH.
But according to one New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services spreadsheet, since February 2001, the state has spent $244,107.13 in Medicaid dollars on 101 undocumented individuals.
That's a little more than two thousand dollars a person.
Manchester Representative Hector Velez represents the state's largest immigrant population.
He says the overwhelming majority of immigrants aren't taking- they're giving back.
T.19
6:05 these people own homes. They are buying their own homes, sending their kids to school. And they pay their property taxes, they pay their rent. So what burden is there on the system?
Immigration Attorney Mona Movafaghi is all for immigration reform.
She just thinks it should come from federal and not state government.
She says the legislature doesn't have the power to regulate employers.
:47 I don't think these bills will fly. And the reason I think they won't fly is b/c they are specifically preempted by the federal law. They are preempted in Immigration and Nationality Act Section 274A....the provisions of this section...preempt any state or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions upon those who employ or recruit unauthorized aliens.
Movafaghi laughs at attempts to give local police power to detain undocumented immigrants.
She says, the state courts already ruled that's unconstitutional.
The attorney says she can't figure out why lawmakers think anything has changed.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
