Dream IU reacts to immigration bill facing Ind. Senate

On Monday and Tuesday, members of Dream IU gathered at La Casa Latino Cultural Center to phone state officials asking them not to support Senate Bill 590 and House Bill 1402. Both bills are similar to Arizona’s immigration-centered Senate Bill 1070 that ignited a national fire storm this past spring.

The Indiana Senate and House of Representatives had hearings on the bills this week. The House heard HB 1402 on Monday, and the Senate heard SB 590 on Wednesday.

“Arizona is coming,” sophomore and Dream IU Coordinator Alicia Nieves said. “If you look at the provisions...it’s an SB 1070 copycat. There are a lot of racial undertones.”

Dream IU’s biggest concerns with the bills are the English-only section and fears of racial profiling, Nieves said.

SB 590 “makes various changes to law concerning enforcement of federal immigration laws, checking the citizenship or immigration status of individuals and related criminal matters,” according to www.in.gov.

The website also says the bill requires “only English be used, with certain exceptions, in public meetings, public documents, by officers and employees of the state in performing their duties.”

Among other changes listed are training state officers to enforce federal immigration laws, punishing businesses that employ illegal immigrants and forcing the Indiana Office of Management of the Budget to calculate how much money illegal immigrants cost Indiana and have the federal government reimburse that amount to the state.

Nieves said she and other Dream IU members were frustrated by the lack of media attention. Nieves said she worried that the bill would slip through the Indiana Senate because not enough people were aware of it.

“I feel like it’s a secret,” Nieves said. “The more people know, the more they disapprove. Mike Delph would definitely prefer that less people hear about it.”

Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, is sponsoring SB 590.

On Wednesday, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined religious, business and education leaders and signed the Indiana Compact. The Indiana Compact calls for federal government, not state governments, to make immigration legislation reforms.

Nieves said SB 590 and HB 1402 aren’t just Latino issues, listing Asian-Americans as another community that could be adversely affected if the bill passed.

Junior and IU Dream member Minelle Amezquit showed up to help with phone calls Monday and Tuesday.

“I don’t feel like it’s really fair,” Amezquit said.

She left voicemails for IU President Michael McRobbie and Gov. Mitch Daniels. However, she said she felt disappointed by her inability to speak with the officials.

“It’s frustrating because a lot don’t answer,” Amezquit said. “Those that do answer just say they’re going to pass the message along but you never know. It’s frustrating because we’re not getting feedback from the people we’re calling.”

Amezquit said most of her family lives in Mexico, and she knows a lot of people whom SB 590 and HB 1402 would affect. One factor that drove her to make phone calls was the failed Dream Act.

“It complicates it a little bit more for them,” Amezquit said. “I don’t see the reason for it.”