Roy Maynard: Early Returns

When presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton bobbled a question about immigration last week, she further cemented it as a major campaign issue for 2008.

The question was peripheral to the immigration debate, really - whether illegal immigrants in New York should be able to receive driver's licenses - but Sen. Clinton's inability to take a position on it exposed a serious political vulnerability in her presidential bid.

But one point Sen. Clinton made was entirely valid. New York's driver's license policy was one of many attempts by states to address the issue, in light of the federal government's "failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform."

"I think the fact that governors are being forced into this position is really unfortunate," she said. "They should not be making immigration policy. The federal government should be making immigration policy."

New York's policy is not the only effort to address immigration at the state level.

State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has announced he's already writing bills to file in the state Legislature in 2009.

"There are almost 2 million illegal aliens in Texas that cost Texas taxpayers $3.5 billion per year," Berman says. "It is up to Texans to change this travesty."

One model Berman will use is a brand-new Oklahoma law that both Republicans and Democrats agree is the toughest in the nation.

The law, which took effect Nov. 1, makes it a felony to harbor or transport illegal immigrants, it empowers state and local police to enforce immigration laws, and it punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

And it requires local law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of anyone arrested for a felony or a DUI. Illegal immigrants who are arrested for a crime must be held without bail and reported to federal agents.

"All you're seeing here is federalism in action," says Oklahoma state Rep. Randy Terrill, a Republican from Moore. "Illegal immigrants are coming this way at a rate of many thousands per day. And I can assure you that not all of them are out putting roofs on your house."

The feds have fallen down on the job, he adds, "So no one should be surprised that lawmakers like me have stepped forward."

Opponents say the law is politically driven and useless.

"All this is already illegal," said Rep. Richard Morrissette, an Oklahoma City Democrat. "The state doesn't have the authority to pass citizenship statutes."

There's a question about the adequacy of local, state and federal resources to meet the new requirements.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's going to be business as usual," says Sheriff Scott Jay of Beckham County, Okla. "I don't see where it's going to have any impact at all on local law enforcement. We don't have the time, the facilities or the manpower."

And of course, there's a court challenge.

But the success of this law isn't the story here. It's the perceived need for this law. And where there's a need, there's a candidate with a plan.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, for example, who can't get no love from religious conservatives these days, is adopting immigration as his primary focus in Iowa.

"Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration - that's got to stop," Romney says in his newest ad.

It's clear that immigration will be an issue throughout the presidential campaign season.

It's even more clear, however, that the real reforms are happening at the state level.



Early Returns is the political observations column of staff writer Roy Maynard, who can be reached at 903-596-6291 or at roymaynardtmt@gmail.com.

Roy Maynard
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