Is Tulsa a Haven for Illegal Immigrants?

TULSA — U.S. Rep. John Sullivan called his Tulsa congressional district a haven for illegal immigrants Thursday and renewed calls for police to work more closely with federal immigration officials.

Sullivan said the immigration problem in Tulsa appears to be worse than he once thought. He spent Wednesday night touring areas where police said large numbers of illegal immigrants live. Sullivan rode with Tulsa police Wednesday to learn more about the type of crimes police deal with every day among the illegal immigrant population.

"The city is crying out to enforce immigration laws,” Sullivan said. "We need to change the hands-off policy in dealing with illegal immigration.”

Sullivan, R-Tulsa, met Thursday with federal immigration officials, local law enforcement and city officials to discuss what he considers a lack of enforcement of immigration laws in Tulsa.

A resolution passed by Tulsa's city council last week would make the city the first in the state to ask local law enforcement to tackle federal immigration laws. Mayor Kathy Taylor hasn't signed the resolution yet.

A bill by state legislators, signed into law recently by Gov. Brad Henry, will require jailers to check the legal status of all immigrants who are arrested, but the change won't take effect until November.

Sullivan and two other members of the state's congressional delegation, U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe, got involved in the debate last week, urging the city to check the legal status of anyone police encounter.

The resolution asks police to change their arrest procedures to include the immigration check. Taylor ultimately will decide whether or not to make that policy change, said her spokeswoman, Sheryl Lovelady.

Opponents fear checking the legal status of people arrested for misdemeanor violations like traffic offenses will lead to racial profiling of the city's Hispanic population. Lovelady said Taylor doesn't support the provision for misdemeanor arrests.

Sullivan hopes more police contact with immigration officials will lead to more accurate numbers of illegal immigrants in the Tulsa area. According to some estimates, there are as many as 40,000 illegal immigrants in Tulsa, he said.

Sullivan said he wants U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to establish a local presence in Tulsa, and the agency will be more likely to do so if it knows how many people in the area aren't legal residents.

Jason Willingham, a Tulsa police officer who rode with Sullivan, said the congressman seemed interested in the problems facing his police department and asked a lot of questions.

"He's got an open ear and he seems to be willing to help us,” Willingham said. "He seemed genuinely concerned with the job our officers do on a daily basis.”

This is why Jim Inhofe included an ICE office in Tulsa in his ENFORCE bill he’s introduced in the Senate. I wish we could get some attention on it. I ENVY the Senator you have.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837422/posts

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today once again introduced his immigration legislation aimed at addressing the ever-increasing influx of illegal immigrants to the United States and its strain on society. Inhofe’s ENFORCE - Engaging the Nation to Fight for Our Right to Control Entry -Act (S.1269) increases U.S. border security, emphasizes greater enforcement of existing immigration laws and prevents amnesty and other shortcuts for illegal immigrants.

“Illegal immigrants continue to cross our country’s borders, strain our economy and exploit our resources,” Inhofe said. “The gravity of this situation warrants that Americans of all political stripes come together to address this problem immediately. I will not stand idly by and watch our great nation collapse under the pressures of uncontrolled illegal immigration; this is a crisis and one that must be addressed aggressively.

“Simply granting citizenship to immigrants, who are currently in our country illegally, is not the answer. We must enhance our border security, hold those accountable who encourage illegal immigration and ensure that those who violate our laws by entering our country illegally do not have this illegal activity easily forgiven and even rewarded with permanent residence or citizenship. Our nation’s future rests on Congress’ actions of today, and the ENFORCE Act is a strong step in the right direction to help solve our growing problem of illegal immigration.”

Major Provisions in Inhofe’s ENFORCE Act:

Establishes the National Border Neighborhood Watch (NBNW) Program allowing retired law enforcement officers to assist Border Patrol agents by reporting illegal border crossings.

· Makes unlawful-presence in the United States a felony.

· Establishes an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

· Authorizes funding for online immigration training for state and local law enforcement officers.

· **** Eliminates the practice of granting automatic U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants in an effort to reduce ‘anchor babies.’******

· Establishes an independent verification system for Social Security numbers; also mandates that immigrant’s Social Security numbers expire when visa runs out.

· Establishes electronic birth & death registries to fight fraudulent Social Security cards

· Helps reduce Individual Taxpayer Identification Number abuse.

· Empowers state & local law enforcement to carryout immigration laws (but does not make it mandatory).

· Establishes penalties for most flagrant employer tax violations—i.e. if an employer willfully files incorrect tax returns, they will be assessed the maximum penalties available.

· Makes it illegal to operate day laborer centers for illegal aliens and to give them unemployment assistance.

· Eliminates in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens.

Frankly, Tulsa can SUFFER. In the southwest we’ve yelled for YEARS, and YEARS and got blown off by the rest of American, calling us “racists” etc. Now you guys can have your jails overwhelmed, your schools filled paying for Hector and Pepita’s kids to NOT learn English. now that YOUR cities are infested with these people go cry elsewhere. NOW do you “get it?” Have fun when your hospitals literally get shut down from the emergency systems being overwhelmed. When a loved one has an emergency, and has to travel FURTHER to the hospital than he/she would have have had to because the hospital that WOULD have been opened no longer is and your loved one dies...then MAYBE, just MAYBE it will begin to sink through your thick, thick, stupid skulls. Bitter? Gee...ya think? Wake up, stupid Uncle Sucker. First politico to grasp this and get the message out wins in 2008.

And SCREW the media even “Friends” like Fox. They’re in the toilet for Rudy etc. Figure it out for yourselves who’s going to secure the border and who isn’t. WAKE UP, morons, before it’s too late.

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