Issue Brief

Immigration

 

Background

 

Over the past year, several bills have come before the Pennsylvania Senate and House that negatively target the immigrant population of Pennsylvania.  These bills foster a hostile environment of fear and hate, while at the same time adversely affecting not only undocumented immigrants, but poor and hungry legal immigrants and US citizens too!  For instance, Senate Bill 9, which passed the Senate in April 2009, would deny many US citizens the benefits for which they are eligible, such as in-state tuition rates at Pennsylvania’s public colleges and universities, unemployment compensation and Medicaid, because they do not have a government-issued ID.  This bill requires that anyone receiving public benefits have an “acceptable” form of government ID.  However, 11% of US citizens do not have the forms of identification deemed “acceptable” in this bill.  Low-income and minority adults are over-represented in that group, as are those who, while fleeing from domestic violence, forget to take  documentation in the immediacy and fear of their flight. 

 

LAMPa opposes Senate Bill 9 and other harsh and punitive anti-immigrant legislation.

 

ELCA Policy Base

 

The ELCA commits itself as a church to “give more to relieve conditions of poverty.”  Therefore it calls for policies that address “the barriers individuals face in preparing for and sustaining a livelihood (such as lack of education, transportation, child care, and health care.)” and for the “government to provide adequate income assistance and related services for citizens, documented immigrants, and refugees who are unable to provide for their livelihood.” 

(Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All, 1999)

 

Moreover, in Leviticus 19:34 God said to Israel that “the stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” and in Matthew 25:35 Jesus says that when we welcome the stranger we welcome him as well.  As Lutheran Christians, the ELCA is called to carry on the faith and practice of our forebears and continue “their exemplary way of faith being active in love.” Therefore, “we pledge to continue our church’s historic leadership in caring for refugees and immigrants.”

(A Message on Immigration, 1998; For Peace in God’s World, 1995)


 

What You Can Do:

 

Write, call and/or e-mail your State Representative and urge them to oppose harsh and punitive immigration policies.

 

Currently Senate Bill 9 is NOT active legislation.  Though SB 9 passed the Senate, it has yet to be voted out of committee in the House. 

 

Below is information on how harsh and punitive immigration policies such as SB 9 can

impact legal U.S. citizens:

 

•     SB 9 would cost the state approximately $27.9 million.  Commonwealth agencies have estimated this cost for checking government-issued ID for all applicants for a huge range of government benefits now processed by mail, phone, or on-line, including Unemployment Compensation, sales tax licenses, and adult Basic health insurance.  There are better ways to spend this $27.9 million, including:

  • fighting the causes of hunger and poverty     

  • removing additional children from the subsidized child care waiting list so that parents can maintain employment

  • putting it toward a down payment on the funding gap for adequate and equitable education

  • supporting libraries

  • improving the Commonwealth’s infrastructure

  • increasing law enforcement budgets so that cities can hire more officers.

•     Experience shows that proposals like SB 9 cost far more than anticipated.  For example, for every $100 spent by federal taxpayers to implement new rules for Medicaid applicants to submit proof of citizenship, only 14 cents in savings could be documented.

 

•     SB 9 would harm up to 800,000 U.S. citizens -- Pennsylvanians who lack government-issued ID.  Despite recent amendments, the bill still makes most adults under age 65, and some seniors, ineligible for benefits if they cannot produce the proper ID.  11% of U.S. citizens lack government-issued ID, as do 25% of adult African-American citizens. 

 

•     The bill would harm Pennsylvania’s economy and budget in the midst of a recession.  PA’s unemployment rate is at a two-year high, and recently led the country in new claims. Yet after a layoff, many families could find themselves destitute as they discover that SB 9 prevents streamlined access to Unemployment Compensation.  And small businesses could find themselves unable to renew licenses – including sales tax licenses -- because of added red tape.  SB 9 is a bad bill at the worst time.

 

•     SB 9 Serves No Sound Public Policy Purpose.  The bill’s proponents have offered no evidence of undocumented immigrants receiving benefits improperly – not even a single example.  Undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for the major public benefits programs in Pennsylvania, and the Department of Public Welfare already verifies identity and immigration status for the benefits it administers. Why harm citizens and waste millions?

 

 

 

 

April 2009