Legislative Updates
You'll find current updates on this page for both national and NC-specific legislation. Voicing your views on immigration is one of the single most important things that you can do to support our immigrant brothers and sisters. Please take action today.
United States Congress
Immigrants and Health Care
The health care debate continues to occupy a lot of energy in DC, and there's a lot of misinformation flying around out there about immigrants' access to heatlh care. Here is some information to set the record straight.
Read Why Excluding People from the Health Care Exchange Is Impractical and Harmful to All of Us
See what's really at stake with Immigrants and Health Care Reform
INCLUDING LEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN HEALTH CARE REFORM: Just What the Doctor Ordered
Learn why Including Immigrants in Health Care Reform Makes Economic Sense
Find out more at National Immigration Policy Center's page on Health Care
Support COMPHRENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
Join the national movement, Reform Immigration FOR America.
We need your voice to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality in 2009.
Click here to visit campaign headquarters.
Click here for a list of principles for comprehensive immigration reform.
President Obama Reaffirms Commitment to Immigration Reform
August 20, 2009
Washington, D.C. - Today, President Obama once more reaffirmed his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, pledging that "we can get this done." The President and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Napolitano met with immigrant advocates, faith leaders, labor, business, and law enforcement officials to listen to concerns and discuss the next steps forward. Mary Giovagnoli, Director the Immigration Policy Center, attended the White House meeting and issued this statement:"Today's White House meeting demonstrated a genuine commitment to engage in a dialogue that will lead to a smart and workable legislative package. Secretary Napolitano strongly supported the need to bring all undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, streamline naturalization procedures, improve immigration processes that allow immigrants to live and work legally in the U.S., and create smart immigration enforcement mechanisms. Both the President and Secretary Napolitano acknowledged the importance of immigration to our country as well as the need to create a sustainable legal immigration system for the 21st century. We must all remain committed to following through on the dialogue that began today."
For more information on the elements of reform, the Immigration Policy Center has produced the following fact check:
Comprehensive Immigration Reform: A Primer
Support the DREAM Act
The DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that addresses the tragedy of young people who grew up in the United States and have graduated from our high schools, but whose future is circumscribed by our current immigration laws. Under current law, these young people generally derive their immigration status solely from their parents, and if their parents are undocumented or in immigration limbo, most have no mechanism to obtain legal residency, even if they have lived most of their lives here in the U.S. The DREAM Act would provide such a mechanism for those who are able to meet certain conditions.
Click here for the latest news and information.
And please continue to express your support for this legislation to your Senators and Representatives.
Support AGJOBS
Addressing undocumented immigration in the agricultural sector is critical, as this is an industry largely serviced by undocumented workers (from 50 to 75 percent of the workforce is undocumented). Some employers have taken advantage of workers who lack immigration status—paying them substandard wages and subjecting them to terrible working conditions. Other employers—farmers from North Carolina to California—don’t want to see their best workers taken away from them. They want a stable workforce. Farmers and farm workers have come together to in support of a solution to the vulnerable state of our agricultural workforce.
Click here to learn more and to take action.
North Carolina General Assembly
The legislative session for 2009 is now over. Below you'll find archived information from this year. It's important to continue to express your support for immigrants to your elected officials in the coming months. We'll keep you posted once again when our legislators are back in Raleigh.
The rest of this page outlines legislative updates at the state level in North Carolina. Please contact your elected officials to express your views on these important bills. Your voice is crucial to making North Carolina a welcoming place. And if you haven't already signed onto our statement, please do so today. Feel free to send us a note or copy us if you take action. Thanks!
Please note that this page only highlights specific bills in the NC legislature. Click on the bill titles to see more information, including co-sponsors. In addition to items listed here, there is also a lot of activity on the local level (ie county commissioners, sheriffs' offices, etc.), particularly when it comes to immigration enforcement. Eventually, we hope to list some of that information here as well.
Bills to Oppose:
Senate Bill 32, Employers Must Use Federal E-Verify Program
SB 32-EMPLOYERS MUST USE FEDERAL E-VERIFY PROGRAM emerged unexpectedly near the end of Session and received a favorable report in the Senate Commerce Committee. Bill sponsor Sen. John Snow (D-Cherokee) explained his bill and acknowledged that many problems had been brought to his attention and needed to be fixed. The positive voice vote was surprising because representatives of the business community expressed their concerns over several provisions in the bill. It also seemed obvious that many Committee Members were terribly uncomfortable giving a favorable report to a bill that had raised so many objections. The bill was re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations where we believed it was likely to stay-and be eligible for the 2010 Session. But on the last day the Senate worked, SB 32 emerged again. The Senate Appropriations Committee met in a quickly-called meeting on the Senate Floor where it received an unfavorable report. Technically, this bill is dead for the rest of the biennium.
S 32 would address the employment of undocumented immigrants by requiring many NC employers to use a federal database program to verify the legal status of employees. As the enclosed information from the National Immigration Law Center spells out, problems with the E-Verify program extend far beyond questions of undocumented immigrants and whether they should be allowed to work in the US. One of the most worrisome issues is the unacceptably high error rates in the federal databases and the very real hardships these errors impose on workers mistakenly labeled as undocumented. The Social Security Administration, which maintains one of the databases used in E-Verify, estimates that its database errors alone could cause 3.6 million of these mistakes nationwide each year.
Suggested Action: Read this fact sheet, then pick one or two points that are most troubling to you, and write to your state senator about the problems with E-Verify. Encourage him/her to oppose requiring NC employers to use E-Verify.
Senate Bill 337
NC Illegal Immigration Reform Act (S 337), which might also be called the Omnibus Anti-Undocumented-Immigrant Bill. Among its provisions:
Require city and county governments to use federal verification systems to verify work authorization info on all new employees.
Require those contracting with public agencies to take part in federal programs to verify that new employees are in the country legally. Contractors must require the same of their subcontractors. Exempt are 1) contracts for small amounts of money, 2) contracts in which manual labor is less than 5%, and 3) contracts for the performance of professional or consultant services.
Forbid private employers from hiring "unauthorized aliens." Enforcement is through a complaint process by which a citizen could report the alleged violation. The complaint could be filed anonymously, so it could come from a disgruntled employee or perhaps even a business competitor. The Attorney General or county attorney must investigate the report and, if it is not false, report it to US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (apparently the bill refers to what is usually known as ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and local law enforcement. The county attorney must bring an action against the employer, action which could lead to suspension or revocation of business licenses held by the employer. Employers must use federal verification programs.
Make it an unfair trade practice to discharge a lawfully authorized employee while knowingly employing an undocumented worker.
Require the state or any local governments to verify any applicant for state, local, or federal public benefits.
Require the Attorney General to enter into an agreement with federal Homeland Security for the enforcement of federal immigration laws by law enforcement officers designated by the state.
Prohibit any city or county from limiting enforcement of state immigration laws.
Require registration by non-attorneys providing assistance to immigrants in completing government paperwork. Certain non-profits recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals are exempt.
Prevent employers, when calculating their state income taxes, from taking a tax deduction for wages paid to undocumented workers.
Make it more difficult for an undocumented immigrant arrested for a violent felony, drug offense, or gang offense to obtain pretrial release.
Make it a felony for someone to transport an undocumented person "knowingly or in reckless disregard of the fact" that the person is not documented, if it is with the "intent to further that person's unlawful entry into the US or avoid apprehension or detection by . . . authorities." A similar provision applies to "conceal[ing], harbor[ing], or shelter[ing] from detection" an undocumented immigrant. Violation of this section would be a felony and would prevent the violator from getting a professional license. Some services, such as soup kitchens and domestic violence shelters, would be exempt, as would churches and health care providers.
Make it a felony to use someone else's identity to obtain employment.
Prohibit undocumented students from being admitted to either the community college system or the UNC system.
(Introduced by Sen. Allran. Referred to Senate State and Local Government Committee.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.Senate Bill 398
Security and Immigration Compliance (S 398) contains the following items from S 337, above:
#1 - work verification by city and county
#2 - contractors and subs (but without the exemptions in 337)
#5 - public benefits, but with exceptions for emergency medical treatment, emergency disaster relief, public health regarding immunizations and communicable diseases, soup kitchens, crisis counseling, short-term shelter, and prenatal care
#6 - enforcement of federal immigration laws, but with the Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, not the Attorney General
#8 - immigration assistance registration
#9 - employers and income tax deductions
(Introduced by Sen. Clary. Referred to Senate Commerce Committee.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
House Bill 437
Modify Requirements for School Admission (H 437) would require parents enrolling a child for the first time in a school to to present a birth certificate and record of immunization. The parent would also be required to state that the child is a citizen or to state the child's immigration status. Use of this information would be limited to "fiscal analysis only." Federal law requires that undocumented students be admitted to public schools.
(Introduced by Reps. Folwell, Crawford, Sager & Hurley. Not yet referred to committee.)
House Bill 344
Employers Must Use Federal E-verify Program (H 344) contains the first four items in S 337, above, but without the exemptions in #2. (Introduced by Rep. Neumann. Referred to House Commerce Committee.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
Senate Bill 237
Voting Materials in English - An Act (S237) would restrict voter registration forms and ballots to the English language except as required by federal law. (Introduced by Sen. Andrew Brock, referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary I.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
House Bill 294
No Postsecondary Education/Illegal Aliens (H294)wouldprohibit "illegal aliens" from attending North Carolina Community Colleges and Universities. Representative George G. Cleveland from Onslow County introduced this bill on Thursday, February 26, 2008 in the NC House of Representatives.
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
Senate Bill 155
Sen. Philip Berger of Rockingham introduced a bill on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 in the NC Senate, SB 155: Community Colleges Can’t Admit Illegal Aliens.
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
House Bill 84
No Bail for Certain Illegal Aliens (H 84), would deny bail to undocumented immigrants who are charged with specified crimes (including sex offenses, violent felonies, driving offenses, drug offenses, and gang offenses) or with other crimes for which federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement would begin deportation proceedings. (Introduced by Rep. Burr.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
House Bill 194
Create Crime of Smuggling Human Beings (H 194) would make it a felony to transport “for profit or commercial purpose” someone that the transporter knows or has reason to know is an undocumented immigrant. The bill prohibits the use of the transportee’s race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin as a basis for surmising his/her immigration status. In spite of the implication of the word “smuggling,” that it is a secretive activity, this bill would seem to criminalize something as open as a landscaping contractor providing rides for his/her employees. In terms of church activities, the bill would seem NOT to include a volunteer giving someone a ride to church, but could include a staff member giving a ride to someone working at the church. (Introduced by Rep. Blackwood. Referred to House Judiciary III Committee.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
House Bill 922
NORTH CAROLINA ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PREVENTION ACT (H 922) - AN ACT to establish the North Carolina Illegal Immigration Prevention Act to provide for the comprehensive regulation of persons in this state who are not lawfully present in the United States.
Holloway, Blust, Cleveland and Neumann (Primary Sponsors); Blackwood, Brown, Burr, Dollar, Hilton, Killian, McGee, Moore, Setzer, Starnes, and Stevens
Latest Action-H-4/1/09-Referred to Judiciary I, if favorable, Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs, if favorable, Finance
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
Senate Bill 290
No Federal Stimulus Money for Illegal Aliens (sic) (S 290) would prohibit use of these funds except as required by federal law or where necessary to ensure receipt of the funds. (Introduced by Sen. Forrester. Referred to Senate Approps Committee.) A similar bill, H 324, would require e-verification of immigrant status. (Introduced by Reps. Cleveland, Neumann & Burr. Referred to House Committee on Federal Relations & Indian Affairs.)
Continues to be eligible because it is an appropriations bill.
Bills to Support:
Senate Bill 464
PREVENT RACIAL PROFILING (S 464)- AN ACT to amend the law requiring the collection of traffic law enforcement statistics in order to prevent racial profiling.
Co-sponsors: McKissick; Atwater, Berger, Boseman, Clary, Dorsett, Foriest, Graham, Kinnaird, Nesbitt, Purcell, Shaw, Stevens, Weinstein
Latest Action-H-5/18/09-Referred to Juvenile Justice, if favorable, Judiciary I
This bill made crossover and continues to be eligible.
House Bill 362
Access to Higher Education (H362) would prevent the NC community college system from "soliciting information regarding the immigration status of prospective students" - thus allowing undocumented students the opportunity to access higher education. Under this bill, "noncitizen students" may still be required to pay out of state tuition.(Introduced by Rep.Pricey Harrison. Referred to House Education Committee.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
Senate Bill 848
Ensure College Access/High School Graduates ensures that graduates of NC high schools have access to higher education.(Introduced by Sen. Charles Albertson.)
Did not make crossover. Likely will not be reintroduced until 2011.
Last updated: August 26, 2009
Some text adapted from the Raleigh Report, published by the NC Council of Churches. Additional text adapted from El Pueblo, Inc.'s Legislative Report.
