04/16/2008

By CHRIS BLANK  / Associated Press

To get public benefits such as food stamps or housing assistance in Missouri, people would have to prove they are U.S. citizens or legally in the country under legislation endorsed by the House.

Those who couldn't prove that they live legally in the United State could continue getting aid for 90 days. But after that, they would be reported to federal immigration authorities if they cannot prove they're legally here.

Rep. Ed Emery said Missouri residents shouldn't have to pay taxes so that illegal immigrants can get help.

"If they're here illegally, they've just gotten 90 days of services from your constituents. I don't expect mine to pay for it," Emery, R-Lamar, told his House colleagues.

But Democratic critics said some illegal immigrants would still need help and that making them ineligible for public benefits would increase pressure on groups that try to fill the gap.

"This bill will probably save the state money on the one hand, but it will probably be very costly for our schools and other institutions that take care of these children," said Rep. Mike Daus, D-St. Louis.

Democrats said that could also fall to private charities.

The Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center estimates from U.S. census data that 35,000 to 65,000 illegal immigrants live in Missouri — less than 1 percent of the 12 million people estimated to be in the United States illegally.

Federal law makes illegal immigrants ineligible for many public benefits, but they can still get a K-12 education, emergency health care, disaster relief, immunizations and crisis counseling. Emery's bill wouldn't block that.

The bill given initial House approval Wednesday is one of several bills that lawmakers have considered to add restrictions on illegal immigrants, those who employ them and the schools that educate them.

Other legislation requires the Missouri State Highway Patrol to get special federal immigration training and public employers to use the E-Verify database to check employees' immigration status. Another bill would take away state grants from cities that adopt "sanctuary" policies and refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A Senate committee on Wednesday afternoon also considered a House-passed measure that would require all the state's public colleges and universities to certify they do not knowingly enroll any illegal immigrants.

Rep. Jerry Nolte said it doesn't make sense for illegal immigrants to go to college because they can't be legally employed.

"While education in and of itself has value for the person, I think we have to recognize the fact that the primary reason many people get college educations is for employment," said Nolte, R-Gladstone.

The Senate, in its own immigration legislation, passed a less restrictive version of that idea that would allow illegal immigrants born before Aug. 28, 2008, who spend at least three semesters in a Missouri high school to attend a public college, as long as they pay out-of-state tuition.

Supporters of that bill said it is a compromise designed to help children already living in Missouri who were brought into the country illegally with their parents.

What to do with those who were young children when their parents brought them into the U.S. illegally has been a thorny issue.

A 1996 federal law prohibits states from offering resident college tuition rates to students illegally present in the United States unless all U.S. citizens are eligible for the same tuition breaks. But it doesn't outright bar them from enrolling.

At least 10 states have enacted laws offering in-state college tuition to students illegally in the U.S., including neighboring Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Sen. Jason Crowell, who heads the Senate general laws committee that considered the college enrollment ban, said he didn't like the Senate's limited ban on enrolling in college.

Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said young children generally don't enroll in college and that they're old enough to be accountable for their actions.

"Is a thief that steals food because he is hungry any less of a thief?" he said.

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Public benefits is HB1649

College enrollment is HB1463

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mog.gov