Oklahoma may be exporting its tough anti-illegal immigration law to other states. Certainly, it could serve as a model for those states weary of waiting for Congress to clamp off the streams of illegal aliens crossing the U.S. border.
Critics have called the new law racist and excessive.
But the bottom line is that it would make Oklahoma unfriendly territory for those who illegally enter the United States and try to get work.
Under the law, an illegal immigrant is not allowed to hold a job or to sign up for public benefits. And those people or businesses that transport or harbor those in the country illegally could suffer severe penalties.
A number of lawsuits reportedly have been filed challenging the law as unfair and its constitutionality has not yet been tested. But a federal court has dismissed a lawsuit based largely on the issue of fairness to immigrants.
It has been estimated that Oklahoma has 100,000 illegal immigrants that the cost of education and other services for them runs about $200 million annually.
The key word in the law is not immigration, but rather “illegal.” Those who cross the border and stay illegally in this country make a travesty of legal immigration process. They simply force themselves to the head to the line for entry by sneaking through border areas, and then making their residences and taking jobs in places where detection is less likely.
It would be interesting to know just how many billions of U.S. dollars illegal immigrants are siphoning from the economy by sending money to the relatives and friends in other countries.
Such laws as Oklahoma’s would be unnecessary if the United States either fully enforced existing laws or if Congress got tougher on employers who provide jobs to those here illegally. Harsh penalties for those employing illegal immigrants, such as hefty fines running into the millions dollars for each offense and jail time for supervisors and executives, would dry up those jobs.
We’re not anti-immigration. If Congress and an administration want to expand the legal immigration rolls, fine. But the nation must put a stopper on the flow of illegal immigrants.
Opinion
In Our View: Word <i>illegal</i> is key to issue
- Opinion
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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