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Sun April 2, 2006
        
.gif){kind=spacer} Conservative coalition demands tougher
immigration laws By Tim
Talley Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY - A coalition of conservative groups demanded tougher immigration laws Sunday and denounced Latin American immigrants they said are exhausting state-supported Medicaid and food stamp programs although they are not legal residents.  Capitol coverage See all the recent coverage from the Capitol. 
A day after more than 5,000 people, mostly Latinos, rallied at the state Capitol to protest proposed state immigration policies, about 200 people gathered on the same Capitol steps to support legislation to stop illegal immigrants from receiving public assistance and require public employees to report suspected undocumented workers. "This is still our country. This is still our state," Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, said as supporters applauded and waved American flags. "They're entering this country at an uninvited and alarming rate. And we must stop that." Charlie Meadows of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee said Saturday's Latino rally was "a subtle shot across the bow" by illegal immigrants who do not want to comply with U.S. immigration policies. "If you shake your fist at the rule of law, then you have a breakdown in your society," Meadows said. "It is our culture that is at risk," he said. "This is a serious problem, and Washington and our president need to address it." As he spoke, supporters held up signs that read "Stop the Invasion" and "Save Our Jobs." Joe Duran, a descendant of Mexican immigrants and former director of the Mexican-American Cultural Center, criticized Catholic Charities and other groups that help immigrants qualify for public assistance. "These people don't have any IDs and they qualify for everything," Duran said. "I would like to live in a state where we come first. Americans first. Everybody else next." A coalition of Oklahoma clerics has denounced the proposed state legislation because it may stop legal immigrants and their families from seeking government services they are entitled to. The bill's author, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, blamed misinformation about the bill for the huge turnout at the Latino rally. Terrill said opponents have created fear and confusion among the more than 100,000 undocumented residents estimated to live in Oklahoma. "Mob rule does not prevail here," Terrill said. "We have an interest in protecting our own taxpayers against waste, fraud and abuse." "I'm sick of it," an unidentified man shouted from the crowd. Terrill's bill passed the House but was pulled from a Senate committee by its Senate author, Sen. Jeff Rabon, D-Hugo, who described it as "exceedingly harsh." Supporters have vowed to keep the measure alive by attaching it to a Senate-passed immigration measure. Rep. Kevin Calvey, a candidate for Congress, said he has reversed his position on a bill he supported in 2003 that provides in-state tuition to resident aliens. Calvey, R-Del City, said the measure was intended to help students who are in the process of becoming citizens. "The problem is they're not telling the truth," Calvey said. The affect of the bill would be reversed by Terrill's legislation. "Do you mean it this time?" an unidentified man shouted at Calvey. Guy Shepherd, who attended the rally with his brother, Sam Shepherd, said concern about the wave of Latin American immigration is not based on racial issues. "These people want to come here because of the great things that are here. But they're not trying to become a part of it, they're trying to change it," Guy Shepherd said. "They're destroying our political system as well as everything else." Nearby, a woman held a sign that read: "Is this Oklahoma or Mexico?" Sandy Bitner and Glenna Thomas, teachers at Oklahoma City's Capitol Hill High School, said they oppose the immigration bill and came to the rally to learn the motives of its supporters. "I'm shocked and appalled at this demonstration of racism," Bitner said. She said about 70 percent of the students at her south Oklahoma City school are Hispanic. "They don't realize the impact that the Latino community has," Thomas said. "If we lost our Latino students, we'd lose some of the best students we have." The rally was organized by the Coalition to End Taxpayer Subsidies for Illegal Aliens. Members include Oklahoma City-area Republican groups, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee and Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now.
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