First Arizona, next Texas?
At least two state lawmakers are planning to file immigration bills similar to a controversial law that recently went into effect in Arizona once Texas lawmakers get back to work in January.
State Rep. Leo Berman said he’s planning several bills, including one that would require presidential and vice presidential candidates to prove their citizenship to the Texas Secretary of State before their names can be put on the ballot. The Arizona law requires presidential candidates to produce birth certificates.
“We’ll do it,” said Berman, R-Tyler, and a former Arlington mayor pro tem. “We’ll do it from now on. If he can’t prove citizenship … he won’t have a place on the Texas ballot.”
Berman was referring to President Barack Obama, whose birthplace has been questioned by some since before he took office. Although his campaign produced a birth certificate that shows that he was born in Hawaii, some speculate that he truly was born in Kenya, where his father lived.
Last weekend, Berman told a crowd in Tyler that he believes “Barack Obama is God’s punishment on us today, but … we are going to make Obama a one-term president,” according to report in the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Berman also plans a broad bill similar to the Arizona law, which makes being an undocumented worker a crime. He specifically wants to include the measure to allow law enforcement officials to ask people who they believe may be in the country illegally about their status.
“I think almost every state in the union will follow suit,” Berman said during a recent call from Switzerland, where he is vacationing.
Separately, Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, has said she also plans to file a bill similar to the Arizona immigration law.
“The first priority for any elected official is to make sure that the safety and security of Texans is well-established,” Riddle told Hearst Newspapers in Texas. “If our federal government did their job, then Arizona wouldn’t have to take this action, and neither would Texas.”
Some Democrats call the Arizona legislation hateful; others say they don’t expect these proposed measures to get far in Texas, since the Mexican American Legislative Caucus makes up nearly one-third of the Texas House of Representatives.
ANNA M. TINSLEY, 817-390-7610
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