'Sanctuary' university bill rejected by Arkansas House panel

Sponsor dropping measure to target aliens’ protectors

Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro
Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro

The House Education Committee rejected a bill Tuesday that would defund Arkansas universities that enact sanctuary policies to protect illegal aliens.

Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro, who sponsored House Bill 1042, said he did not plan to run the measure again after it failed on a voice vote.

The bill would have required state colleges and universities to certify annually that they don't have policies that prevent officials from working with federal immigration officials or bar law enforcement officers from asking people about their immigration status.

Opponents said Tuesday the bill would have little legal effect but appears discriminatory against minority groups.

"There's no denying that this targets our immigrant community here in Arkansas," said Mireya Reith, co-founder and executive director of the Arkansas United Community Coalition. "I think that's where you see a lot of concerns from our community."

Given uncertainty over federal immigration programs, additional state legislation would add to the confusion, she said.

"We actually think it would create more chaos than resolve the chaos that Rep. Smith is trying to fix," Reith said.

Smith said the bill was aimed at preventing a possible future problem.

"This is directed at the radical fringe anarchist types that want to change our campuses from those decent places where people go to get an education into what we saw, over the news, at" the University of California, Berkeley.

Violent demonstrations last week prompted that university to cancel an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor of Breitbart News Network.

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No Arkansas school has sanctuary policies or is moving to adopt them. More than 100 students at Arkansas State University signed a petition asking the university to enact one. The university rejected the petition, saying it could not violate federal or state law.

Maria Markham, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, told lawmakers that illegal aliens do attend Arkansas schools but are classified as out-of-state students and pay out-of-state tuition and fees.

Smith said his bill was in response to the petition drive.

"My comments to these folks repeatably has been: We're not opposed to you being here, but you just need to stay out of the cross hairs. Don't let some national or statewide organization use you for their selfish gain for a media moment," he said. "When you do that, you set yourself up to be instantly rounded up."

Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, said lawmakers already have the power to withhold funds in fiscal and regular sessions.

"Why should I pass a bill to grant myself a power I already have to fix a problem that does not exist?" she said.

According to news reports, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth declared his university a "sanctuary campus" late last year. Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Connecticut.

Students at the University of North Texas; Texas Woman's University; and Texas State University have petitioned administrators to become sanctuary campuses, according to The Dallas Morning News. The students wanted to follow the model of sanctuary cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Twitter he would cut state funding to any Texas public university that declares itself a sanctuary campus.

Asked about Smith's bill, Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters Tuesday that illegal aliens have been allowed to attend public institutions.

"We don't want to create a climate of fear for them," he said. "We want to recognize that many of them are here in the United States because their parents made a decision to come here. It was not a decision of their own. They are living here as a result of their parents' decisions, so I think we just need to be very careful about that. I talked to Rep. Smith and expressed my concerns about it."

Arguments for and against HB1042 were largely similar to debate over another of Smith's bills -- House Bill 1041, to disallow the use of foreign laws in Arkansas courts. The House passed HB1041 63-24 Monday.

Asked about the foreign-law bill, Hutchinson said, "I am searching for a reason for that legislation. I have been in courts. I've litigated all over the country and here in Arkansas, and I just have not identified that as a problem. I don't see any need for that legislation."

Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 02/08/2017








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NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo

Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, responds to a question in this 2016 file photo.

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