On Va. House Panel, a Stampede Against Illegal Immigration

RICHMOND

M ove 'em on, head 'em up,

Head 'em up, move 'em on

The herd in question consists of bills -- bills aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, bills being corralled through the gates of the Virginia legislature. You can just about hear the theme song from the classic TV western "Rawhide" as these bills, dozens and dozens of them, move through the House Rules Committee at a rate of about one every three minutes.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Debate? Who needs it? Votes? A quick muttering of "yea" does the trick. Hardly anyone at a committee meeting this week bothers to demur.

Eager to send the message that Virginia is not for illegal immigrants, lawmakers have loaded the General Assembly's session with all manner of ways to make the state unappealing to foreigners who don't have permission to be in the country.

If all the bills pass, illegal immigrants would be banned from enrolling in public colleges, barred from getting a mortgage on a house and liable to be fired if they don't speak English at work. There's even a resolution, by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II, the Fairfax Republican, to ask Congress to initiate a change to the 14th Amendment so that citizenship would no longer be granted automatically to anyone born in the United States. At least one parent would have to be a citizen before a child could be eligible for citizenship at birth.

"I'd like us to make Virginia the most welcoming place in the country for people who come here legally," says Del. Jeff Frederick, a Prince William Republican. "And Virginia is going to be the least hospitable place for those who break the law."

Not all of the bills are aimed directly at illegal immigrants. The proposals include measures that would turn huge numbers of Virginians into surrogate enforcement agents. Prison officials, police officers, state contractors and other employers would have to check whether potential employees are in the country legally. It would become a felony to "harbor, transport or conceal an illegal alien." Anyone in a state-regulated industry caught with an illegal immigrant on the payroll would face fines of up to $10,000 per violation.

If you sought to change your name legally, you'd have to prove your citizenship. Same if you applied for a driver's license, tax exemption or contractor's license. Colleges would have to check freshmen's birth certificates and report the results on a public Web site.