Immigrant -- Illegals and Privileges?

The Privileges and Immunities Clause (U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, also known as the Comity Clause) prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner, with regard to basic civil rights. The text of the clause reads:

"The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states."

The Privileges and Immunities Clause is similar to a provision that was contained in the Articles of Confederation. According to that provision, "the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States."

The Supreme Court has never interpreted the Privileges and Immunities Clause as requiring any state to protect general rights of citizenship beyond those that the state already protects for its own citizens, though even a state's own citizens must be allowed to leave the state in order to enjoy privileges and immunities in any other state.

The key to understanding the true intention of the Privileges and Immunities Clause is the word citizen. The protection of basic civil rights was intended to be guaranteed to citizens of the United States. Today, many illegals are claiming ownership of privileges and immunities. In essence, these people are vagabonds within the borders of America. They gain many of the privileges of citizenship without obligation. To grant these prerogatives to those without citizenship is wrong. The negative impact of illegal immigration on taxpayer resources and the stability of the country is inexcusable.

In Ohio, under current law, a county sheriff has the authority to arrest and detain illegal immigrants who violate a criminal provision of federal immigration law. However, this authority does not extend to civil provisions of the law, which includes matters of deportation. This limitation has left many local law enforcement officers with their hands tied in trying to address the illegal immigration problem in their communities.

John Carey of the Ohio Senate (J. Moore, "Ohio Considering Illegal Immigration Legislation," Hillsboro Times Gazette, August 2 2010) reports on efforts to aid the problem:

SB 150 would allow local sheriffs to seek an agreement with the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help in the investigation, apprehension and detention of illegal aliens who violate civil and criminal provisions of federal immigration law. In addition, the bill would allow local sheriffs, at the direction of their county commissioners and upon the request of federal immigration officials, to receive into custody anyone who is being detained for deportation or charged with a civil violation of federal immigration law. Like SB 35, nothing in SB 150 requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws or take suspected illegal aliens into custody.

In addition, after officials from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation testified before the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee last fall that the agency does not currently check to see if injured workers are authorized to work in the United States before paying out benefits, legislation was introduced in the Senate to address the issue. Senate Bill 238, which passed the Senate in May, would require every injured worker in Ohio to prove to the BWC that he or she is authorized to work in this country, ensuring that the money companies are paying into the system now is only being used to cover the injury claims of employees who are legally authorized to work in the U.S.

 Conclusions

True, the United States is a nation largely comprised of immigrants; however, according to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005, an estimated 75,000 to 150,000 illegal aliens live in Ohio which represents 20th among illegal alien populations in the United States. ("Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.) 

Also the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that Ohio taxpayers spend $183.2 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools. (Jack Martin, “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red,” A Report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.) Illegals are not welcomed immigrants for obvious reasons. Illegals are criminals, not people coming to America to work as day laborers or migrant workers.

FAIR’s projected annual fiscal costs to Ohio taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration resulting if an amnesty is adopted for illegal residents.
Current	2010	2020
$224,000,000	$372,000,000	$627,000,000

And, finally John S. Baker and Elliot Stonecipher report this injustice of the 2010 census:

"...the U.S. Census Bureau is set to count all persons physically present in the country—including large numbers who are here illegally. The result will unconstitutionally increase the number of representatives in some states and deprive some other states of their rightful political representation. Citizens of “loser” states should be outraged. Yet few are even aware of what’s going on." ("Our Unconstitutional Census," The New York Times, August 9 2009)

Of course, Ohio is a so-called "loser" state certain to lose one seat in the 2010 reapportionment.