Immigration under study

Lawmakers are taking a look at possible immigration laws this summer in preparation for the 2009 legislative session.

State Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, has been selected by Indiana's legislative leaders to serve this summer on the Interim Study Committee on Immigration.

The primary goal is studying the economic impact of illegal immigration in Indiana, Koch said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The committee will consist of 12 legislators, six from the House of Representatives and six from the Senate, and will meet and hold hearings during the summer. The committee will submit its findings and recommendations to legislative leaders by Nov. 1, before the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

"The federal government has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to secure our borders and Americans are looking to their state legislatures for help," Koch said. "Legal immigration helped build America; but illegal immigration devalues American citizenship and is unfair to those who seek to share the American dream through lawful, orderly immigration, often waiting many years for the opportunity to emigrate here.""We should not reward those whose first act upon American soil is to break the law," Koch added.

A number of immigration bills were proposed in the 2008 legislative session but failed to gain passage.

Only one was heard, a Senate bill that would have penalized businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. It gained much attention during the session. House and Senate versions of the bill were passed and sent  to conference committee, where it died.

"I was one of four members on that conference committee as the House Republican member," Koch said. "I signed a conference report and Sen. Jim Arnold signed the report, but it failed to gain all four, which are needed for it to pass."

The summer study committee is charged by legislative leaders with investigating:

uThe financial impact of illegal immigration in Indiana on education, health care, the criminal justice system and social services.

uThe impact of illegal immigration on wages and employment.

uThe impact of illegal immigration on state and local entities that issue, or routinely check, identification.

uFederal limitations on state actions regarding immigration.

uAnd the current and future potential of the E-Verify system (including its successors or alternatives) regarding its reliability, accessibility and dependability.

Koch said he expects the chairman will call the first hearing by August but was unsure how many hearings might be held.
The issues was hot with the public last winter. Is it today?

"This is still an issue that is very much in the public mind," Koch said. "It has a connection to both jobs and taxes, which are two issues that are always at the forefront. Jobs in the sense that illegal immigration provides a source of inexpensive labor that gives employers who use iillegal immigrants an unfair competitive advantage, and taxes in that those illegal immigrants who are receiving public assistance and services are costing us as taxpayers."

But the impact of illegal immigration isn't all negative, said Mary Jane Gonzalez, with the Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She said the committee should also look at the economic benefits from illegal immigrants in the work force.

"Any time you're doing a study, it's about the economic balance sheet," Gonzalez told The Associated Press.

The study committee may give lawmakers a more objective look at the issue, political analyst Brian Vargus said.

"It gives them a chance to take a breath," Vargus said.

What can Hoosiers expect to see in the legislative hopper next January?

"A lot will depend upon the success of the summer study committee and depending upon the political makeup of the legislature in this next session," Koch said.

He added it will also depend upon success of what's happening in other states and what laws are being upheld in court.

Koch said states like Arizona and Oklahoma have demonstrated that illegal aliens will self-deport if the economic incentives are eliminated by state law.

Last year, Koch joined legislators from 24 other states to create State Legislators for Legal Immigration. The organization's Web site is www.StateLegislatorsForLegalImmigration.com.

Koch serves House District 65, which includes parts of Bartholomew, Brown, Jackson and Lawrence counties.