Free Republic

A state Assembly committee dominated by Democrats this morning killed two bills that sought to require public officials to report suspected illegal immigrants and prohibit employers from knowingly hiring the immigrants. Freshman Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, an activist with the Minuteman movement, proposed an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigrants because he said the federal government is doing an inadequate job protecting the borders.

An Arizona-like law to combat illegal immigration has a snowball's chance in Phoenix of passing the California Legislature, but freshman Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks (San Bernardino County) is giving it a shot. Donnelly, who has patrolled the California-Mexico border as part of the militant Minutemen citizen group, held a rally at the Capitol today for his bill, AB26. The bill would make a number of changes in state law, including requiring law enforcement to verify the immigration status of anyone who is arrested and suspected of being in the country illegally. It also would make it illegal to limit...