Our weak borders threaten national security.  Terrorists have, and may again, take advantage of the easy access to enter and attack our country.  Secondly, illegal aliens are finding ways to gain access and take advantage of government assistance programs designed for legal citizens. 

On the other hand, immigrants who follow the law of the land and enter our country legally are a source of diligent workers and enterprising entrepreneurs that strengthen our country.  These are but a couple of the qualities that have made this a great nation.

Even though many of these issues can only be dealt with by Congress, there are issues that the Missouri Legislature can address.  If we can identify the reasons why illegal aliens are in Missouri we can work to fix the problems. 

The Missouri House of Representatives plans to deal with immigration reform in the recently formed Special Committee on Immigration Reform.  This committee was created to address the current issues surrounding immigration in Missouri.  Specifically, committee members are charged with investigating and making recommendations on immigration policies in the State of Missouri. 

One of the bills heard in the Immigration Reform committee this week was Senate Bill 1250, which proposes several changes to strengthen Missouri’s laws on illegal aliens. 

Our state assistance programs are meant to help people in a time of need.  They are not entitlements for Missourians or illegal aliens.  Federal law already states illegal aliens are not eligible for assistance programs.  SB 1250 simply mandates that state officials comply with federal law by requiring they check to verify the legal status of all recipients. 

This legislation also will prohibit employers with undocumented workers from getting contracts for public work projects in Missouri.  Any company wishing to place bids on public works contracts will have to sign an affidavit stating they have absolutely no undocumented workers on staff before their bid can be submitted.  If a company is found not complying with these stipulations they will have violated their contract and be forced to end their participation in the project.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers also will receive additional training to essentially become Deputy Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) officers with this legislation.  This federally funded training will give state troopers the tools and knowledge they need to properly identify and detain illegal aliens.

With these new abilities, our state troopers will be able to enforce federal laws and prosecute illegal aliens smuggling drugs to the fullest extent of the law.  This is particularly important in Missouri because our central location makes our interstate highways attractive to drug smugglers entering from Mexico. 

In addition to the new committee to address immigration reform and SB 1250, the House also has enacted House Bill 1841 to require English to be spoken and used in all official proceedings in the state.  This legislation is designed to bring uniformity to all proceedings where the public has an interest in the outcome.  The Missouri House of Representatives has also passed House Bill 1865 which requires public colleges and universities to verify all students are legally in the United States.

There are reports that estimate Missouri has as many as 22,000 illegal aliens in the state right now.  While this is not a significant number of our total population, it will undoubtedly continue to grow unless we address the issue.  By enacting these reforms and urging our federal legislators to pass comprehensive immigration reform measures, we can stop the influx of illegal aliens that threaten our government programs and national security. 

I would encourage all of you to contact Senator Kit Bond and Senator Jim Talent to impress upon them the need for reforms to our immigration laws.