80th Legislature: Jackson Files Additional Illegal Alien Legislation

Although they have not yet received as much notice as similar bills by State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler), Rep. Jim Jackson (R-Carrollton) has filed two bills which are geared toward illegal immigrants in Texas.

First, we’ll take a look at HB 291 which would require governmental entities and their subcontractors to participate in the Federal Work Authorization Program. Under the bill, governmental entities would be required to register and participate in the program to verify information on all new employees. The Texas Workforce Commission would be charged with creating the rules for verification.

Most interestingly, however, HB 291 provites for the termination of any government employee responsible for verification of the status of new employees if the verification requirements aren’t followed.

Further, the bill provides that no governmental entity may award any contract for goods or services unless that contractor participates in the Federal Work Authorization Program and continues doing so for the term of the contract. On top of that, each contract must include a certification that the contractor is ineligible to receive the contract if the certification is inaccurate or becomes so during the term of the contract. Finally, every governmental entity must develop procedures for administrting the requirements of the bill.
Jackson says his bill is designed to make sure that government entities take the lead on curtailing the hiring of illegal immigrants.

“The employers who should first comply with the law forbidding hiring illegal persons are the governments whose officers take an oath to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States and of this State,’” Jackson said in a press release concerning the legislation.

While HB 291 is reasonably tame in comparison to other anti-illegal alien legislation pre-filed in the last month in that it is essentially a provision that simply requires that government bodies not hire illegal aliens or do business with companies that do, it does raise some interesting points.

In particular, it is important to note that the amount of contracts let by government bodies—from the state itself down to cities and counties—is astoundingly large. From contracts for the purchase of goods like road equipment, office supplies and even law enforcement uniforms to services ranging from Lexis Nexus subscriptions for district judges to constructing municipal water towers, the number of contracts let by government bodies is mind-numbing.

Essentially, all of these businesses would have to participate in federal verificaition and essentially not be hiring illegal immigrants in order to meet the requirements of this law.

This brings up a couple of things. First, it would clearly cause some contractors to be excluded. Second, it raises the issue of the “low bid” provisions in the Local Government Code. While there are already provisions in place that allow government bodies to select a bid other than the low bid, it may become a more common practice if low bidders are unable or unwilling to comply with the new requirements. However, since this bill would make it illegal to contract with companies who can’t comply with the law as amended, it would appear modifications to the LGC regarding low bidding would not be required as the entities couldn’t let contracts even to the lowest bidder if they could not comply.

I’ve not heard any major lobby positions on this bill, but I have a hunch the Texas Municipal League and Texas association of Counties would oppose the measure.

Jackson’s office noted that employer sanctions is a recommendation of a recent report from the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute’s Immigration Taskforce, of which Jackson was a member.
The other Jackson bill is likely to gain more notice and be more controversial. HB 141 would rescind the provisions of HB 1403 passed back in the 77th, which gave in-state tuition rates to the children of illegal aliens.

“Our military’s children do not presently have these rights so why should Texas’ colleges be required to provide it for the children of non-legal persons,” Jackson noted in his press release.

According to Jackson’s office, the bill would:

[E]liminate the provision in current law that allows children of non-legal persons who graduate from a high school in this state to be considered residents of Texas when applying for college.  It adds a provision that a person who is not lawfully authorized to be present in the United States may not be considered a resident of this state.

Jackson’s bill deletes the provision of the Education Code which requires a person to establish resident status, but allows for a person who has resided in the state and is not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States to sign an affidavit of intent to apply to become a permanent resident of the U.S. as soon as the person becomes eligible to apply.
Jackson stated, “There is nothing to ensure that the proposed student will become an American citizen.”

Additionally, the bill requires an individual to establish resident status documentation as required by rule of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  The Coordinating Board shall adopt rules prescribing the documentation required for purposes of the bill.  H.B. 141, if passed by the legislature this session, will be effective beginning with resident status at public institutions of higher education for the 2007 Fall Semester.

Tweet This Post   Ping This Post

Bookmark It