Bills take tougher stance on illegals

ANNAPOLIS — A group of lawmakers is calling for illegal aliens to be incarcerated as soon as they are discovered, as one of six pieces of legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

“A number of us decided that, instead of playing defense, it is time to play offense,” Delegate Patrick L. McDonough, Baltimore County Republican, said of the illegal-immigration bills, which were introduced in the House before the start of the session last week.

The bills call for:

• Requiring local police, without warrants, to arrest illegal aliens they discover during their daily duties and turn them over to federal authorities.

• Banning illegal aliens from owning driver’s licenses.

• Seizing cars driven by illegal immigrants and suspending the licenses of anyone who allows illegal immigrants to drive their vehicles.

• Banning embassy-issued consular matricular identification cards from being accepted as forms of ID.

• Creating a task force to study whether health care workers should be required to report when they treat illegal aliens.

• Creating a task force to study how much illegal immigration costs the state.

A leading sponsor of the legislative package, Mr. McDonough said the bills have “no chance” of passage in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. But he added that he and Delegate Richard K. Impallaria, Baltimore County Republican, are representing their constituents with the legislation, which might pass in a few years.

“We can start the battle here,” Mr. McDonough said. “We will be back again next year and the year after and the year after.”

Mr. Impallaria, another key sponsor, said last year’s legislation that would have allowed illegal aliens to possess driver’s licenses and pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities served as a wake-up call.

The tuition bill was defeated, and the driver’s license bill is being studied.

“They both had the power to pass, which was a scary thought,” Mr. Impallaria said. “With 9/11, where you had people who entered the country illegally, and then you had the sniper [Lee Boyd Malvo], who was also illegal … if these weren’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what was.”

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