Congressman tells Legislature to back off immigration

McALLEN - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told the Texas Legislature to stay away from enacting immigration reform.

"This is a federal matter," said Cuellar, D-Laredo. "If the state gets involved you're liable to have a patchwork of laws."

The congressman made his comments Friday to a roomful of Texas businesspeople at the McAllen Convention Center during a forum on the effects increasing immigration enforcement have on the business sector.

During the last legislative session, a Republican-led coalition pushed for the creation of a system of fines and other punitive measures for Texas businesses caught hiring illegal immigrants, as well as other anti-immigration measures.

The proposal never made it to the assembly for a vote, but the effort will be renewed when the Legislature convenes in January, said state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, who was Friday's meeting.

"(The federal government) has done nothing about illegal immigration, and as a state representative my oath says I will protect the Constitution and the laws of the state of Texas," he said. "We're playing this a lot smarter this time."

Berman said "almost every Republican" is expected to support the legislation.

Even opponents admit they have a tough fight ahead of them, though.

"We haven't had anything done (at the federal level) the last two years, so the pressure will be increased," said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business and a former Republican state representative for Dallas.

Laws targeting businesses that hire illegal immigrants already have passed in Arizona, Oklahoma and other states.

According to Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, a pro-business and pro-immigrant group, the industries that would be most affected by tougher immigration enforcement are farming, construction and the service industry.

"These laws could be very harmful to Texas businesses," Hammond said. "It's shortsighted and we'll likely end up with a lot of lawsuits being filed."
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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.