I was just reading the report State Capitol Week in Review

August 17, 2007

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas legislators have begun work on illegal immigration - a difficult issue that is likely to generate headlines in the 2009 regular session.

This is a difficult issue because you have avoided the issue since the 1960,s.

I know it is easy to use the excuse that you were not a member of the past session's BUT you did run on a ticket that you would solve the problems of the people you repersent and like past legislators we hear from you when its time to get elected to office and then hear from you nevermore.

The great Senator Hammersmith sent out letters once a month and ask us how we felt about the issues he had to vote on and how we felt about what was happening in this great country of ours.I am sure that a lot of people just threw the letters in the garbage can and I am just as sure he had a lot of concerned citizens send them back in.Now he had a way to talk to the people who he represented and a way to tell them what was going on in the government and he had a poll of the views of his district.

When I enrolled my children in school in 1970 in Arkansas I had to produce the birth certificate of two born in Texas and one born in1975 in Arkansas.I did the same to get my drivers license changed from Texas to Arkansas.Still have my birth certificate and all the kids ,except the ones who needed them Thur out their lives.

If the state legislators had been enforcing the laws all Thur the years then the illegals would not have been in the schools and the people who hired and enrolled them would have been in jail.When going to hospitals you have to show some ID to get in the place and you have not enforced the laws on the books and arrested the illegals and sent them home according to the law.They still ask for my VA card at VA hospital.Sure hope I don't lose it ,may have to show that I was born in America to get a new one.I still have my social security card that was given to me in the 50's and there may be illegals working on my number and it will not be checked because its to hard to do so in the age of computers??My father who died in 1999 at 84 is still listed as alive and getting older each year.hes 96 now.Looks like all this filing of records at the courthouse and all the people who work there is a waste of Tax dollars.

Yes it is a difficult issue and you made it that way by avoiding the ones you represent and protecting the employers of the illegals all these years.

One justification for hiring immigrants is that they are willing to do many jobs that Americans will not take.

This is an excuse made up by employers and the Arkansas legislators who only have an ear for the rich and famous .Why there was a time when the same was said of any black person trying to get a job in northwest Arkansas.Now i have noticed that the people working to pick up trash on the side of the freeways in fort smith are Mexicans.The workers putting in flower beds in the city of Fayetteville are Mexicans,The workers of a large plumbing company from spring dale are Mexicans and the foreman is white and speaks Mexican.The track workers of the Railroad are all Mexicans and the foreman speaks Mexican.Not more than 15 years ago they were all black and white American,s and spoke English.Tyson has always hired illegals and still he is not in prison nor are the the people who aided and abetted a criminal that was breaking Arkansas laws and Texas laws in jail's.Once these same jobs were held by Americans trying to make a living and I seen them Thur out the years doing the same jobs.Now my lover who lives with me tried to get her license changed from Mississippi to Arkansas and it has taken a year to get it changed .She was born in Philadelphia had been married three times and she was told to get a copy of each marriage license and it took 8 months and 35 dollars for each one and then a week ago she was told she would need her divorce papers too??????BUT at the same place in Spring dale a Mexican with a green card got his license with out all the hassle and now you will say he is a resident of this state and he will put his kids in school and you the

Arkansas legislators have made this possible just to protect friends who are in business and hire illegals so as to make a better profit.I guess the people who gave her the Mississippi license lied and it could not be trusted and therefore she should have gotten a green card instead.You are slapping the law abiding citizen in the face while protecting criminals and their employers.

The latest numbers from the state Department of Workforce Services show that the number of Arkansas workers increased 4,700 to 1,300,200 since December, while the number of unemployed Arkansans decreased 3,800 to 69,600 during the month.The unemployed rate is 5% for Arkansas.

48% of Arkansas people work for a living.51,000 illegals are taking jobs from 69600 people who need the jobs,not counting homeless and teachers.

According to the federal census and several research reports presented to the State Agencies Committee, about 4 percent of the people living in Arkansas are immigrants. The total state population is 2.7 million and about 100,000 are immigrants.

The majority are from Mexico and Latin America, but a third of our immigrants are from other places in the world - 18 percent are from Asia, 12 percent are from Europe and 3 percent are from Africa.When you do the math it becomes clear that we the people can ask ,WHY are they here.

Yes it is a difficult issue and some states like Oklahoma have addressed the issue ,but you still have not talked to the tax payer who foots the illegals bill nor have you done any thing to enforce the laws and get them out of the country.You make a speech to the plumbers union and then we hear a edited part of said speech on TV, That does not get the word out to the voters who put you in office to represent them.

Now we the American born in this country and part of the 95% of Americans who did not go to prison and paid his tax's and drives the speed limit is called a bigot because we ask those who were elected to office to enforce the laws.

In the last few years I have talked to a lot of people in this area where I live about this same issue and all have said they wish they were rounded up and trucked to the border and dumped back over the fence.this is not the opinion of just one person and you need to get out and ask those with kids who need jobs and lots of the neighbors and people who work around here what they would like done.

You represent a lot of people that voted you in office to speak and vote for them and protect them from the criminals and the employers of criminals.

Yes we need a change of the people ,who are sent to office by the people that cant talk to the people for the people.

This letter is not implying that it is about any one person and is to remind all that since the 1960's all have forgotten who they represent when they were elected to office.

Thanks,

Carlton Corbin

report is below for your reading pleasure.

State Capitol Week in Review

August 17, 2007

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas legislators have begun work on illegal immigration - a difficult issue that is likely to generate headlines in the 2009 regular session.

The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs is tallying up the cost of providing state services to immigrants, both legal and illegal. Education officials reported that it costs about $154 million to teach public school students who are children of immigrants, but they don't know what percentage of those students have legal status.

Prison officials said it costs about $1.8 million to securely house 158 inmates who are undocumented aliens.

The Department of Community Correction, which has jurisdiction over less serious offenders, has 11 illegal aliens and 22 legal aliens in its residential facilities. The cost of housing them is almost $900,000. In addition, the department supervises 178 legal aliens who are on parole or probation, as well as 283 illegal aliens.

The State Agencies Committee will meet again soon to hear reports on the cost of providing health care and human services to immigrants.

Legislators are working on the issue well in advance of the next regular session for several reasons. First of all, the number of immigrants in Arkansas is growing rapidly. Secondly, surrounding states have passed laws on immigration and there is concern that Arkansas may become a haven for illegal aliens unless we too enact immigration laws.

Since 1990, Arkansas is first in the United States in the increase in the number of immigrants.

According to the federal census and several research reports presented to the State Agencies Committee, about 4 percent of the people living in Arkansas are immigrants. The total state population is 2.7 million and about 100,000 are immigrants.

The majority are from Mexico and Latin America, but a third of our immigrants are from other places in the world - 18 percent are from Asia, 12 percent are from Europe and 3 percent are from Africa.

Nationwide, about 51 percent of immigrants are illegal or undocumented. There are numerous types of immigration, therefore foreign-born people in Arkansas fall into numerous categories of legal status. Some have become U.S. citizens, some have become resident aliens. Some have temporary permits and some have applied for political asylum.

Many have no documentation at all, or else they have purchased fake documents. Some have stayed in the United States longer than allowed under temporary visas.

Calculating the financial impact of immigration is complicated by several factors. It is difficult to measure how much in taxes is paid by illegal aliens, compared to those who live and work here legally.

Another complicating factor is the economic impact of immigrants, especially low-wage workers from Mexico and Central America. One justification for hiring immigrants is that they are willing to do many jobs that Americans will not take. Therefore, solving the issue of immigration reform will be linked to efforts to reform welfare, so that more Arkansans become part of the work force.

Earlier this year the legislature passed Act 545, which excludes migrant farm workers from minimum wage and overtime laws. Also, the legislator passed Act 157 to prohibit state agencies from contracting with companies that hire illegal immigrants.

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