Thread: Mass. Passing Law similar to (or <gasp> worse than) Arizona's....country oddly silent

Mass. Senate passes crackdown on illegal immigrants

By Noah Bierman and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff



With one lawmaker citing President Lincoln's respect for the rule of law, the Massachusetts Senate passed a far-reaching crackdown this afternoon on illegal immigrants and those who would hire them, going further, senators said, than any immigration bill proposed over the past five years.

In a surprising turn of events, the legislation replaced a narrower bill that was passed Wednesday over the objections of Republicans.

The measure, which passed on a 28-10 vote as an amendment to the budget, would bar the state from doing business with any company found to break federal laws barring illegal immigrant hiring. It would also toughen penalties for creating or using fake identification documents, and explicitly deny in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants.

The amendment would also require the state’s public health insurance program to verify residency through the Department of Homeland Security, and would require the state to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.

The amendment will now be part of negotiations with the House as part of the entire state budget.
Supporters, especially Republicans, struck patriotic notes and spoke of the sanctity of the law as they spoke on the Senate floor.

“It was President Lincoln -- and I’m going to paraphrase here -- who suggested that respect for the law should be preached from every pulpit taught by every mother to every child,” said Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.

But one supporter said that the measure was being passed for practical purposes and would hurt people.
Senator Frederick E. Berry, a Peabody Democrat, complained that one of the Republican sponsors acted like the "Patriots had just won the Super Bowl. ... I am going to vote for it, but I don’t think we ought to rejoice."
Democrats had resisted such a sweeping proposal, but spent last evening negotiating today’s measure, shortly after a new polled showed 84 percent of the liberal-leaning state’s voters supported tough immigration rules barring state services to illegal immigrants.

Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat who opposed the amendment, said the measure had not been properly vetted and would add undue obligations to businesses and state government when they could ill afford it. She said it would cost the state money, while programs for children and public safety are being cut and people in her city are being shot at.
"I just don't think this is an appropriate time to be enforcing an additional cost burden on the state, doing things that are not our job," Chang-Diaz said.
The measure would also close what supporters say is a loophole that allows businesses to register cars under a company name, without identifying the owner by Social Security number and federal tax identification number. It would also crate a toll-free hot line for anonymous reporting of companies that employ illegal immigrants.
The measure comes weeks after immigration measures failed in the House, and amid heightened debate over illegal immigration fueled by the state's election season and Arizona's passage in April of the toughest immigration law in the nation.
Recent polls have found that, while voters supported blocking illegal immigrants' access to public benefits, they were split over whether the Bay State should have a law such as Arizona's.
Thursday's Senate amendment would also authorize the state attorney general's office to broker an agreement with federal authorities to help enforce immigration law. That would be a stark departure for Attorney General Martha Coakley, who has increased outreach to immigrants, encouraging them to file employment complaints, regardless of their legal status. Scores of immigrants whose bosses allegedly failed to pay their wages have turned to her for help in recent years.
The legislation also would increase penalties for driving without a license, one of the main problems facing illegal immigrants in Massachusetts. In November, a panel commissioned by Governor Deval Patrick urged him to push to grant driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, among many other recommendations. Patrick sent the recommendations to his cabinet for study and pledged to return with a proposal in 90 days, but the results have not been made public.
Most immigrants in Massachusetts are here legally, but an estimated 190,000, or 20 percent, are here illegally, according to the census.

Go figure

Wow, i wouldnt think a usually liberal state like Mass. would even be talking about a law like this. I am seriously shocked. However, i am very happy that the states are starting to crack down on this issue. Being here illegally has always been a federal offense, but the federal government just never enforced it. Another crazy thing is that there is talk of several other states that have begun writing there own immigration laws. Texas, Tennesee, and New Mexico are just a few.

I also heard a rumor on CNN that President Obama is about to send another 2000 National Guard troops to the border and getting the Coast Guard involved. Again thats just a rumor and i dont really trust CNN as far as i can throw my TV. The one thing that worries me about all this is that illegals may begin to lash out and that this could turn violent.

Makes sense to me. I like this law. I hate the Arizona law.

This law makes SENSE. It denies things to known criminals, and those who employ them. The Arizona law intrudes on people's rights and quite clearly encourages racial profiling. See the difference?

i wonder if the lack of people talking about this just has to do with the fact that theres probably a lower illegal immigrant population

Originally Posted by Cleric

Wow, i wouldnt think a usually liberal state like Mass. would even be talking about a law like this. I am seriously shocked. However, i am very happy that the states are starting to crack down on this issue. Being here illegally has always been a federal offense, but the federal government just never enforced it. Another crazy thing is that there is talk of several other states that have begun writing there own immigration laws. Texas, Tennesee, and New Mexico are just a few.

I also heard a rumor on CNN that President Obama is about to send another 2000 National Guard troops to the border and getting the Coast Guard involved. Again thats just a rumor and i dont really trust CNN as far as i can throw my TV. The one thing that worries me about all this is that illegals may begin to lash out and that this could turn violent.

it'll be interesting to see just how many states pass or try to pass something like this... and how many will before the federal government steps in

I only read what you posted and didn't dig up the actual law, but from what you posted it looks like the Massachusetts law doesn't force police to question anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant (i.e. anyone with Mexican ancestry, potentially), whereas the part of the Arizona law that people focused on in the national media (as far as I can remember) was that exact part of it.

Also, don't other states have laws that prevent businesses from hiring illegal immigrants, and do periodic raids to enforce it? I don't see why we expect the same level of reaction over the AZ bill. This seems more along the lines of "Don't antagonize American citizens for being brown skinned in your quest to deport all illegals but rather go about immigration reform sensibly" but again I didn't read the whole bill. Maybe they have blood sacrifices to the Liberal God Athea and her lesbian wife Socialita crammed in there somewhere, in which case DAMN YOU MA

Looks like a more rational bill than the one in Arizona.

Originally Posted by Toad

I only read what you posted and didn't dig up the actual law, but from what you posted it looks like the Massachusetts law doesn't force police to question anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant (i.e. anyone with Mexican ancestry, potentially), whereas the part of the Arizona law that people focused on in the national media (as far as I can remember) was that exact part of it.

Also, don't other states have laws that prevent businesses from hiring illegal immigrants, and do periodic raids to enforce it? I don't see why we expect the same level of reaction over the AZ bill. This seems more along the lines of "Don't antagonize American citizens for being brown skinned in your quest to deport all illegals but rather go about immigration reform sensibly" but again I didn't read the whole bill. Maybe they have blood sacrifices to the Liberal God Athea and her lesbian wife Socialita crammed in there somewhere, in which case DAMN YOU MA

i like this post

You guys are aware that a cop in arizona can not go up to someone and say "hey, are you an immigrant?

The law states that they are required to check citizenship IN CONJUCTION with another offense (i.e traffic stop) if they suspect somone of being here illegally

I mean, just so you guys are aware of that...

Originally Posted by Kraker Jak

You guys are aware that a cop in arizona can not go up to someone and say "hey, are you an immigrant?

The law states that they are required to check citizenship IN CONJUCTION with another offense (i.e traffic stop) if they suspect somone of being here illegally

I mean, just so you guys are aware of that...

As in , you didnt do anything wrong we are conducting "a random stop" PAPERS SCHNELL!!!!

Originally Posted by GoofRatty

As in , you didnt do anything wrong we are conducting "a random stop" PAPERS SCHNELL!!!!

Hahaha... exactly! "I couldn't help but notice that you are excessively tan... let's see that ID!" Cops can and will stop people whenever they please. I was questioned by a police officer two months ago for pulling over to the side of the road driving home at midnight to blow my nose, instead of attempting to do so while driving. It was a perfectly executed pullover (i.e. I wasn't wasted or anything). He asked where I had been, where I was going, and then implied that the route I was taking home was not the most direct and that that was "funny." I told him that I'd lived in that area until I graduated college and that the routes were nearly identical and he let me go. And I'm white! If I didn't have the magic shield that exists around white people to protect them from cops giving me speeding tickets, etc... I'd be thousands of dollars poorer and probably tazed and beaten (or at least arrested a few times) by now.

"PAPERS SCHNELL!!!" kind of sums that all up, though. I'll have to remember that for future debates on this topic.