Being a Republican stronghold doesn’t mean every bill goes unchallenged. A new proposal in Oklahoma targeting aid for undocumented immigrants is likely to set the state’s Democratic agencies into a clash of ideology. This bill wouldn’t just affect basic needs and welfare policy, but the threat of jail time for any undocumented immigrant who even dares to apply for assistance, which has caused an uproar amongst Liberal citizens.
In a Reddit post on the Oklahoma Reddit by user kosuradio, there was a news story originally reported by KOSU, in which Oklahoma House Republicans are going to target illegal immigrants who apply for welfare and assistance with threats of police reports and ICE notifications.
According to reports, House Bills 4422 and 4423 were created by Oklahoma Republicans Kyle Hilbert and Tem Lonnie Paxton. It would require that anyone without legal immigration status applying for SNAP and other government programs be reported to the Attorney General. Then that information can be passed to law enforcement and ICE so they can likely detain and deport anybody reported.
Democrat rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval issued a statement in protest of this pair of bills, which read as follows.
For those that might not know, any person that is undocumented does pay taxes using an individual tax ID number within the state of Oklahoma,” Alonso-Sandoval said. “And… targeting the criminals, targeting the drug traffickers, targeting those that are doing bad, that aren’t US citizens. That isn’t an argument. Today, we’re not talking about the criminals. We’re not talking about the drug traffickers…We’re talking about kids that are hungry and sick, families that come from low-income backgrounds.
This proposed bill has also caused some grief on Reddit, as people are absolutely opposed to such legislation being passed.
“Were there any immigrants applying for those benefits in the first place? Is this just more performative legislation that fixes a problem that didn’t exist so they can say they did something?”
“Apply for SNAP, get deported, these fools wish that would work i swear”
“Derplahoma’s repugnican legislature strikes again! Wasting money like idiots.”
“Reminds me of that story in the Bible where immigrants were needing assistance and Jesus turned them into the cops. And then gave a wink to the nearest billionaire like “i got you, dude””
As you can tell, this bill will likely gain more traction with Oklahoma politicians in the coming days and weeks, as the ramifications of passing it into law would have a dramatic impact on any immigrants seeking assistance.
