Terrill, Morrissette lock horns over immigration law

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The principal author of the state's new immigration law and one of the measure's chief critics debated the new law Thursday during a meeting of the state's political scientists.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Oklahoma Political Science Association, state Reps. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, and Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, spent the better part of Thursday afternoon arguing the pros and cons of House Bill 1804 -- the state's new immigration bill.

The event, billed as a roundtable discussion, also included Linda Allegro, a professor from the University of Tulsa, and Carol Helm, a representative of the group Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now.

The discussion drew a full crowd to the House of Representatives chamber and was, at times, tense.

Terrill defended his bill saying it "wasn't any big secret that the federal government had fallen down" on its responsibility to protect the nation's borders.

"Illegal immigrants are coming this way at a rate of many thousands per day," he said. "And I can assure you that not all of them are out putting roofs on your house."

Since the government has failed to act, Terrill said, "no one should be surprised that lawmakers like me should step forward."

"All you're seeing here is federalism in action," he said.

Terrill, a law school graduate, also criticized the law's opponents for using the courts to challenge the law.

"They don't like HB 1804, and they've used the court from the very beginning," he said. "So what have they done, they've taken the fight to the court, to the judiciary. They want the unaccountable judiciary to decide it. They are attempting to accomplish through the judicial process what they couldn't accomplish through the legislative process."

Morrissette disagreed.

"This bill was driven by politics," the Oklahoma City Democrat said. "Because Carl Rove in the White House did a poll of conservative, GOP voters."

Undocumented workers, he said, are already prevented from receiving benefits by federal law and HB 1804 is nothing more than a duplication of existing federal statutes.

"All this is already illegal. This is a terrible state issue. The state doesn't have the authority to pass citizenship statutes. You have to go through a federal process to become a U.S. citizen, it's cumbersome, weary and time-consuming."

The country, Morrissette said, "is big enough to follow the law. If you work, pay taxes and go by the rules, then you should be given a reasonable chance to become a U.S. citizen."

Responding to Terrill's complaints of opposition groups filing suit over the bill, Morrissette said he hoped the courts "would do something" about the bill. "I suspect they will. I suspect the federal court will take some action."

Echoing Terrill, Carol Helm, a representative of Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now, said Oklahoma was facing an "invasion" by illegal aliens.

"Our group is non-partisan," she said. "The thing that brings us together is one issue: the illegal alien invasion."

The states, she said, have every right to enforce immigration laws.

"Why are these laws not being enforced? There are many, many laws on the books that are being overlooked."

The forum's fourth speaker, University of Tulsa professor Linda Allegro, said the bill has generated many unanswered questions.

"We don't have all the answers yet. We don't know if it will be more costly to enforce this law."

Allegro said other issues have been absent from the debate over the new law.

"We have to look at how the global economy is reshaping labor availability," she said. "The North American Free Trade Agreement has created a paradox, a borderless movement of goods, services and capital and, at the same time, more limited immigration."

And HB 1804 had made things worse by creating "racial divisions."

"It's contributed to more tension between whites and Hispanics; where the former are viewed as racists and the later as criminal," she said.

The Oklahoma Political Science Association annual conference continues through today at the State Capitol building.

Indian Gaming - a good news, bad news thing

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Indian gaming will generate more than $100 million for the state's budget, employ thousands of Oklahomans, and plow millions of dollars into health care, education and other social services for the state's Native American tribes, two former state lawmakers said Thursday.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Political Science Association, former state Reps. Phil Ostrander and Tommy Thomas said Oklahoma "is fortunate" to have Indian gaming.

"If the state is going to have gaming, then it's very fortunate to have Indian gaming," Ostrander, a lobbyist for the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said. "Indian gaming is a nonprofit enterprise. It generates revenues, not profits. And those revenues go right back into Oklahoma."

Native American tribes, he said, have had a major impact on rural Oklahoma.

"It's much more than what anyone anticipated. In Miami, people are talking about how the tribes had turned around the economy."

Like Ostrander, Thomas touted revenue generated by the tribes' gaming operations.

"The tribes create jobs with benefits," he said. "They help drive the economies of rural Oklahoma. Native American gaming ventures employ Native Americans and non-Native Americans."

Yet, despite the influx of additional state revenue, some operations are causing problems for local and state governments.

"There are lots of detractors of Indian gaming," said University of Oklahoma professor Aimee Franklin. "Many detractors came into the market and talked about the gambling addiction."

Other issues, she said, involved the tribe's "heritage land claims."

"In Kansas City, they have one casino on the river," she said. "The tribe wanted to have another on the other state line so they made a heritage claim, saying they had previously owned the land."

Those claims, Franklin said, often use imminent domain laws to take land.

"Governments are being forced to look at the costs and long-term consequences," she said. "Some governments are experiencing financial losses because of these operations."

Ottawa County Undersheriff Bob Ernst agreed.

"We have jurisdictional issues," he said. "We're funded by sales tax. And, obviously, Indian tribes on trust land don't contribute sales tax."

The sheriff's department, he said, could "use more people and resources" to service the county's 35,000 residents.

"We will see an increase in some crimes," he said. "And we could use more resources to get out there. But that's something that isn't happening."

Expired Driver's License: You've got trouble

MOORE — Kenneth Pricer just wanted to renew his driver’s license.

Pricer, 81, was shopping with is wife Tuesday, when a clerk pointed to his license said it had expired.

“No big deal,” Pricer thought. The last time he renewed his license, the trip took about 15 minutes; and because he was retired, it didn’t cost him a thing.

So Pricer and his wife, Marlane, finished their shopping and traveled to the Moore Tag Agency for, what they thought at the time, would be a quick errand.

Six hours — and four trips later — Kenneth Pricer got his license.

But the process required traveling from the tag agency to home, then to Norman, then to the bank, then to Oklahoma City and, finally, back to Moore.

“It was crazy,” Pricer said. “I had no idea.”

Pricer was one of hundreds of residents caught in a web of problems caused by the state’s new immigration law, House Bill 1804.

The law, authored by state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, went into effect Nov. 1.

Terrill said the bill is supposed to curtail illegal immigration and prevent undocumented residents from obtaining state-issued identification.

To prevent undocumented workers from receiving state benefits, state and local agencies are required to verify the citizenship status of applicants before authorizing benefits and public employers are required to enter job applicants into an electronic immigration database to verify legal status.

Those rules also include drivers licenses.

And the changes apply to any resident — lifelong or not — who lets that license expire.

“We went to the tag agency, but they said, ‘because of the new law you have a problem,’” Pricer said. “They said ‘you have to go to the Department of Public Safety and take either your passport or birth certificate and get it okayed to get a drivers license.’ Then they said to ‘bring it back and they would issue the license for you.’”

For Pricer, the new law meant traveling a total of more that 100 miles and spending about five hours to get his license renewed.

“We couldn’t find our visas,” he said. “So we went home and got a copy of our birth certificates. We took them and went over went to Norman. We finally found the place, but they said, ‘sorry these are not notarized and we can’t used them.’”

Frustrated, Pricer and his wife drove from Norman back to their bank, where they retrieved certified copies of the same birth certificates. From there, the couple went to another DPS testing station — this one in Oklahoma City — to prove their identity.

“We went back to get different, certified, copy,” he said. “Then we went the testing center on I-240. We got there about 3 p.m., got a number and sat down. We were about the next to the last one. The place closes up at 4:45.”

The Pricers were the 154th in line.

The experience, he said, was “real stupid.”

“I guess what bothers me is there was nothing out that warned a person about this. We thought the bill was all about immigration, we didn’t think it applied to us.”

Under HB 1804, Oklahoma residents must prove their citizenship before they can get their driver’s license upgraded — or in the case of an expired license — renewed.

Previously, an expired drivers license could be renewed at a tag agency without the extra documents or a visit to a DPS driving examiner.

But residents, Pricer said, “didn’t know” about how the law would effect them. “Everybody thinks it’s just about immigration. Well, it’s not.”

According to a Department of Public Safety message e-mailed to state tag agents — on Nov. 2, the day after the law went into effect — “any individual whose driver’s license has expired (even one day) must appear before a driver’s license examiner” to show proof of legal presence.

The message said the tag agent’s computer “will not prompt you to send them to the examiner at this time. You will have to look at the expiration date on the license. Computer programming will be in place on Monday with a prompt which will read ‘this license has expired and driver must see a DL examiner.’”

DPS officials confirmed the new policy, but added that most residents will only have to show their citizenship proof one time.

“If a resident has an expired driver’s license, they will need to go to a DPS examining station,” Department spokesman Captain Chris West said. “The will need to see the examiner and let the examiner look at their forms, then they can go back to their tag agent and get their license renewed.”

West said the law “wasn’t that complicated” and only required residents to provide documentation one time.

“Once they’ve shown their documents to a driver’s license examiner, that’s the last time they are going to have to do that,” he said. “DPS now maintains that data on file.”

That may be so, but tag agency officials say the law is confusing residents, and causing agents major problems.

“We are turning people away by the dozens,” said Cindy Virgin, the owner of the Moore Tag Agency. “On Saturday, we had about 15 people we couldn’t help and yesterday it was probably 30 to 40.”

Along with upset customers, Virgin said in many smaller towns, there are no DPS testing stations. And those stations are not open on weekends.

“The stations are understaffed; the lines are incredible. They are not open on weekends so our customers just have to wait and in many places the testing station is in another town.”

The end result, Virgin said, is a “very upset customer.”

Kenneth Pricer agrees.

“It was very inconvenient,” he said. “It was frustrating. We were lucky we were retired. It would be almost impossible for someone who has a job.”

Still, even with all the difficulty, Pricer said he did learn something from the process.

“I’m gonna make sure every knows. I’m gonna make sure all my kids and grandkids check their driver’s license. I want them to be legal.”

COMENTARY: How one city councilman did the right thing

Moore city councilman Dave Roberts is an easy going, standup guy.

Blessed with a voice that’s a cross between James Earl Jones and Barry White, Roberts could have made a fortune in the soul music industry.

But Dave is more than a smooth talker.

Having watched him in council meetings, and as a member of the Moore Rotary Club, I’ve been impressed by his level-headed approach to municipal problems and his desire to make Moore a better place to live.

It’s obvious he cares.

It’s also obvious he wants to do the right thing.

What’s not so obvious is what Dave did last week.

Following a recent speech by Republican state Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson, Roberts offered a rebuttal.

Wilcoxson, it seems, used a speech with the Moore Rotary Club to denigrate Oklahoma’s public school system, its teachers and administrators.

And Dave Roberts became angry.

He did a slow burn for about a week.

Then, the following week, Roberts did something that’s almost unknown by public officials any more — he stood up publicly and announced he disagreed with Sen. Wilcoxson; he she was wrong he said and her speech was “intellectually dishonest.”

He wasn’t worried about the fallout.

He made his point simply and elegantly without negative rhetoric or name calling.

He stood and spoke softly about why he disagreed.

It was the right thing to do.

Because for months now, Wilcoxson has paraded around the state blasting public schools and those involved with them.
She’s trotted out failed political candidates and dubious experts who all say the same thing: our schools are horrible and the system needs to be destroyed.

A couple of weeks ago, the good Senator brought her dog-and-pony show to the Moore Rotary Club where she proceeded to tell Rotarians this same, tired story. Prior to her speech, she even issued a press release announcing she would be speaking.

Being the gentleman that he is, Roberts sat quietly and listened.

But, like many others in the room, he knew he was being misled.

Consider this:

• Just last week, a Moore teacher was named a Milken Foundation Award winner — the Academy Award of the teaching profession. The honor comes with a $25,000 stipend. And while many Moore and state officials — including Lt. Governor Jari Askins — cleared off their schedule to attend the entire ceremony, Wilcoxson came in late, made a brief appearance at a reception and left early.

• Last year a Moore elementary school was named a Blue Ribbon School.

• Earlier this year, a Moore student received a $100,000 Intel prize for her performance at a national science fair.

• The average GAP for a Moore senior is 3.0.

• 72.4 percent of Moore’s 2005 senior class participated in the ACT test — well above the state average of 66.5 percent.

• Moore’s average ACT score was 21.5 — almost a full point above the state average of 20.6.

• Moore spends $5,816 per pupil with an 18 student per teacher ratio.

• Moore’s schools consistently rank high — usually exceeding the state average — in API and other educational performance rankings.

• Moore is the state’s third largest school district with more than 20,000 students.

But, if we listened to Sen. Wilcoxson, we would think our district is failing. If we bought the negative, we’d light the torches and head for the administrative building.

Thankfully, someone like Dave Roberts saw the truth.

Don’t let anyone kid you, the Senator’s recent speeches are being delivered as a platform for her eventual campaign for state school superintendent.

They are political.

They are designed to inspire fear and distrust.

They are supposed to divide.

She’s been in office for 12 years — she’s served on the education committee and currently is its co-chair. If Oklahoma’s schools are as bad as she believes, then Wilcoxson is partly responsible — because she and her comrades have had more than a decade to make a difference.

Running around the state, talking smack about teachers and schools may score her points on the political front.

But here in Moore, one thoughtful, genuine public official didn’t by the rhetoric.

And a wise man told the rest of us not to buy it either.

Which is why, my friends, councilman Dave Roberts did the right thing.

Attitudes the biggest problem for disabled professionals, speaker says

Jason Price's biggest barrier isn't brick or steel or wood.

It has nothing to do with construction or even equipment.

Jason Price's biggest barrier is people.

More specifically, their attitude.

Price, a graduate of Northeastern Oklahoma State University, and a professional with the State of Oklahoma, has cerebral palsy.

And he uses a wheelchair.

And it's what people think about his disability, he says, that causes most of his problems.

"People with disabilities face tremendous barriers. The biggest barriers to employment for people with significant disabilities are attitudinal barriers -- they are even more profound than the architectual ones we still face."

Disabled professionals, he said, have a "very difficult time" getting on equal ground in the search for employment.

"Despite a degree, it took me from May 1997 until September of 1999 to find employment," he said. "And I had a good resume. I was a straight-A student and did an internship at Channel 9 in Oklahoma City."

An avid sports fan, Jason had hoped to use his degree to pursue a career in sports journalism.

But the attitude toward his disability derailed his plans.

"I would send in my resume and people would call back for an interview. They would be ready to interview me and it never failed, I showed up and everything about the individual changed."

From words, to downright shock, he said.

He blames the problem on a what he calls "the grocery store incident."

"The grocery store incident is that moment each of you had when you were at the grocery store with your mom and you saw someone with a significant disability," he said. "Your jaw dropped to the floor and you stared. You probably had a lot of questions for that individual."

However, Price said those questions were left unasked because, "your mom would not let you and you got into trouble for staring."

"On your way home, your mom told you what her mom told her and the misinformation continued. It continues to this day," he said.

Along with the fight to overcome the attitude.

"People with disabilities are regular people," Price said. "There is nothing different about our wants or desires. We are exactly the same."

As an example, Price described his own life.

"I've been married 10 years, I own my own home and have a 5-year-old son," he said. "I like to watch football on the weekends. There is nothing out of the ordinary."

Too often, Price says society looks at disabled professionals as "super crips."

"I refer to it as 'super crip.' Where we are exalted for doing things considered normal. When the fact is, we are normal."

Speaking at a recent reception for human resource professionals at the Sarkey's Foundation, Price, a Social Security Administration vocational rehabilitation coordinator for the state's Department of Rehabilitation Services, said the best way to deal with disabled professionals was simple respect.

"Don't assume all disabled people know each other," he quipped. "I've had it happen where people will see me at, say, Subway and they'll say 'hey, do you know David?' and I'll say, 'who?' and they'll say, 'you know, David. He's that guy in a wheelchair, too.'"

"Well," Price said. "I hate to break your heart, but disabled people don't all get together in the evening."

Using humor and a well-honed, comfortable speaking style, Price urged business and industry leaders to ignore the myths about hiring disabled employees.

"People with disabilities are perceived to be a risk to hire," he said. "That's wrong. They are perceived to be an insurance risk or to need extra accommodations. Well, the truth is, there are a lot of things out there that help with the architectural barriers, but there are not that many which help with the attitude barriers."

Disabled employees, he said, "are constantly in a state of proving our worth."

"None of the myths are true," he said. "People with disabilities just want a tiny piece of the American Dream."

To help overcome those barriers, Price said professionals should interact with disabled professionals on an equal level.

"For example, with me, please be seated if you are going to talk with me at length. And while assistance is appreciated, please ask before helping."

Many times, some people will "literally run me over," Price said, by trying to open the door. "We call those people good deed vampires. They are trying to suck the good right out of me."

A native Oklahoman, Price said disabled professionals just seek a "fair chance" to succeed in the business world.

"I consider my disability a part of me," he said. "It's who I am. I believe I am exactly how God wanted me to be. And there are many, many others just like myself. We're all seeking the same thing. We all want the same things. People need to see that."