Minnesota report on the cost of illegal immigration ignites firestorm

Bill Salisbury:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's controversial report on the cost of illegal immigration apparently has created an emerging political storm that will play out in the 2006 legislative session and next year's elections.

The report, which estimates undocumented immigrants and their children cost Minnesota taxpayers about $175 million a year for state services, may have roused a "sleeping giant" in immigrant communities that have been politically apathetic until now.

Pawlenty told a group of police chiefs Thursday that illegal immigration is a large and growing problem that will be at the top of his public safety agenda in the coming legislative session.

Meanwhile, Democrats accused the Republican governor of using illegal immigration as a wedge issue to "fire up his base" of social conservatives. They said it was part of a national strategy on the part of Republicans.

The report Pawlenty released last week sparked angry reactions among immigrants and their allies. They contend that parts of it were false or misleading and that, more importantly, it ignored the benefits undocumented immigrants provide to the state, estimated at $300 million in state and local taxes in another analysis.

In response to Pawlenty's report, about 75 members of the local Latino, Hmong and Somali communities and representatives of religious, labor, business and nonprofit groups met Tuesday night to plan strategies to counter the report, said Alison Quito Ziegler, interim director of the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network.

They agreed to take immediate steps to publicize the report's flaws and the realities of immigrant life, and they plan to develop long-range strategies to influence public policy.

"There was a tremendous amount of frustration and anger at the way that immigrants were portrayed in the report," Ziegler said.

Among the upset attendees was Erik Rodriguez, a student at Southwest High School in Minneapolis. He wants to enroll in a Minnesota college next year but said he won't be able to afford it unless Pawlenty and the Legislature pass a law that would allow him and other undocumented but longtime Minnesota students to pay in-state tuition rates.

"I feel like they're denying me an opportunity to get an education and show the world what I can do," Rodriguez said.

"I think the governor's report stirred something that maybe he wasn't hoping to stir, sort of a sleeping giant of a community that's broader than he thinks it is," said DFL Rep. Carlos Mariani of St. Paul, the Legislature's only Hispanic member. He predicted the Pawlenty report would spark a new wave of immigrant civic and political activism.

Pawlenty, speaking at a Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association board of directors meeting Thursday in Woodbury, said he recognizes this is a nation of immigrants and welcomes legal migrants to Minnesota. But the system for admitting them "has to be legal and orderly and reasonable, and the current system that we now see playing out across the country and in Minnesota doesn't meet that definition in my book."

He said he's soliciting ideas to combat crimes associated with illegal immigration for next year's legislative session.

One big problem is the use of false Social Security cards, birth certificates and driver's licenses to defraud health-care providers and deceive police, he said.

He also wants to find ways to protect illegal immigrants who live and work "underground" from being exploited.

Another issue next session will be the Minneapolis and St. Paul ordinances that say police cannot question people about immigration status if it's the only basis for questioning or detaining someone. Police and city officials say the policy encourages immigrants to report crimes and cooperate with investigations. State Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, plans to introduce legislation next year to prevent such ordinances.

On Tuesday, Pawlenty met privately with about 20 representatives of immigrant groups in his Capitol office to solicit their ideas for attracting more legal immigrants with skills needed for the state's workforce.

John Doan, a Vietnamese-American from Blaine and chairman of the Council of Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, said he was prepared to question Pawlenty about the controversial report at the meeting.

"I was going to tell him that we were caught off-guard and surprised by the tone and perspective of the report, but the governor sort of stole my thunder," Doan said.

"He came in and told us immigrants are a valued part of the state's vibrant economy and quality of life, and legal immigration has been key to the state's success in the last century. That was exactly what I was hoping to hear."

While Doan was relieved by Pawlenty's comments, he said, "I still think there's a lot of concern from the (immigrant) community that that report paints a very skewed picture of immigration."

Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Brian Melendeze asserted Pawlenty's release of the report was part of a broader Republican scheme, spearheaded by President Bush and the GOP Congress, to make getting tough on illegal immigration a hot-button political issue.

But Pawlenty denies that. "To say that this is not a legitimate issue before the country is ridiculous," he said. "Illegal immigration in the United States of America is a major … serious issue, and to simply discount it or ignore it as political is seemingly oblivious to the reality around us."

The issue is a hot one among Republican activists, who see getting tough on illegal immigration as a way to combat terrorism, said state GOP Chairman Ron Carey. "The interest level in that issue has gone up dramatically. I would be surprised if it is not a top-five issue for next year's campaign."

Meanwhile, Attorney General Mike Hatch, a DFL candidate for governor, charged that the Pawlenty administration has exacerbated the illegal immigration problem. He said he has received repeated complaints that the Department of Labor and Industry has failed to enforce labor, occupational health and safety and workers' compensation laws at businesses that hire illegal immigrants. He also has heard complaints that the Revenue Department isn't investigating allegations that those employers are failing to pay payroll taxes.

As a result of the lax enforcement, middle-class Minnesotans have lost their jobs to lower-paid undocumented immigrants, Hatch said.

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