Border bills

THE ISSUE

Alabama House and Senate committees have passed bills that advocates say would crack down on illegal immigrants holding jobs, but there is some doubt about the constitutionality of some of the measures. This is a matter best left to Congress.

A raft of bills that would make life in Alabama tough on illegal immigrants has passed through committees in the Legislature. Whether they can win passage in either house is not clear, and some elements of the bills would almost certainly face legal challenges.

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday passed eight of the 10 bills approved earlier in a Senate committee that, among other things, would punish employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The House committee delayed action on two Senate bills — one that would require all workers to carry state identification cards and another that would require forfeiture of property owned by anyone in the state illegaly.

The Alabama Department of Public Safety expressed concern about issuing ID cards based on cost alone. Officials estimated it would cost $1.7 million to issue the cards. If approved by the Legislature, the new restrictions and requirements would mean stepped-up law enforcement efforts across the board, but there is no provision — other than the forfeitures — to pay for the enforcement.

The Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability Committee passed bills earlier this week that would prohibit state incentives being offered to companies that employ illegal immigrants, require the state Revenue Department to withold business licenses to those companies, make it a crime to transport illegal immigrants into the state, prohibit cities from adopting policies that protect illegal immigrants, require jails to deny bail to those in the country illegally, call for the forfeiture of property acquired while the owner was an illegal immigrant, allow law enforcement to impound vehicles of motorists driving without a license, insurance or proof of legal entry into the U.S., require proof of legal entry before receiving public benefits from the state, and allow law enforcement to detain those accused of driving without a license for up to 48 hours without bail.

It seems lawmakers in Alabama are joining the bandwagon of states trying to come to grips with the growing population of undocumented workers crossing the southern border. It’s a political hot-button issue, and one that raises genuine concerns about the cost to the social infrastructure of the country. It’s also popular with voters when state and local lawmakers appear to be doing something to get control of illegal immigration.

But it’s an issue state and local governments are ill equipped to handle.

Congress, unfortunately, has dithered on immigration reform for more than two years, and it’s not likely any significant work will resume until after the next administration takes office in January 2009. Still, immigration is a matter best left to Congress. After all, border control is a federal issue.