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Opinion
By Juan Miret
Hispano de Tulsa
Tulsa, OK - On April 16, Republican representative Randy Terrill, author of the severe 1804 and creator of the legislative project “English only," wrote a brief article in the electronic version of an Anglo-Saxon newspaper.
Twenty-eight lines and 142 words were needed to repeat the term “illegal alien” to satiety and to justify the consequences brought by 1804, after almost 6 months of its enforcement.
According to Terrill, the huge majority of Oklahoma supports his project: “more than 80 percent supports our law (1804) and I am 99.99 percent sure that it will reflect the same support at the national level”.
This assertion is totally different to a statistical study made by the company The Terrance Group who surveyed 500 registered Oklahoma voters, of which an impressive 52 percent were against local immigration laws and in favor of federal action.
On the other hand, the 80 percent Terrill preaches about contradicts the 37 percent of Oklahoma voters who support restrictive immigration laws similar to 1804.
Later on, the radical legislative author points out that 1804 “goes beyond merely economic issues, it is about fundamental principles and values…like dignity and morality.”
This is a strong statement to make since in the title of 1804 one finds the supposed protection of the contributors but not a thing about morality.
Terrill’s position even contradicts Oklahoma Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, who publicly considered this bill “cruel” to justify his position of defendant from his judiciary position, leaving the moral issues to celestial tribunals.
Maybe Terrill’s new position follows a recent study by the Oklahoma Bankers Association which determined that the current impact just 6 months into the law’s enforcement is of almost two thousand million dollars.
1804 was supposed to save the state about 207 million, which were being used, supposedly, by illegal aliens in public services financed with funds coming from the tax payers, but in reality the results have been fatal.
Roger M. Beverage, executive president of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, published in the monthly newsletter “Oklahoma Banker” that the statistic study was done by two economists: Kyle Deal and Russell Evans, from the company Economic Impact Group and the results are totally unquestionable, “they are numbers not words and that cannot be debated by anyone,” he expressed in his column.
Terrill may think that the world revolves around him when he assures in his brief note “that most importantly the Oklahoma law [1804] is fulfilling its purpose and many reports show that the ‘illegals’ are moving out of the state”.
Terrill’s victory may not be welcomed by neighboring states or by community leaders who fight for the protection of human and civil rights, regardless of their migratory status.
The indignation among his legislator colleagues has been made public and among them Senator Harry Coates, who in his political blog for the music channel MTV expressed that he expects “that the use of reasoning instead of emotion may take us to a balance and bills like 1804 will not be repeated”.
Finally, Terrill mentions that he is doing “what people expect him to do”, however, it seems like the Republican is starting to sing to a different tune and some politicians have started to keep their distance.
To read Randy Terrill’s article you can visit
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/04/opposing-view-l.hgml
(Translated by Rosario Guerra)
