Letter to State Representative Jason Murphey

I decided I would write a letter about what concerns me in the legislation of the state of Oklahoma. Back in November, the state of Oklahoma passed a law that deals with immigration and illegal aliens. As I am sure you are well aware, HB 1804 passed to establish new laws against illegal workers in Oklahoma. I am sure you know all about the bill as it has received national attention as being strict and very straightforward.

My main problem with the bill and, in effect, law is that I was unaware that state’s had a right to do such a thing. I was under the impression that immigration laws were a federal issue and therefore not a state problem. My big question is what do the lawmakers want to get out of passing this law? Is it simply because they want the illegal workers to pay taxes? Are they trying to improve the well-being of the state? If that is the case, then they have made a drastic mistake.

This cannot be. Deporting illegal immigrants will absolutely destroy the state’s economy. This law has already greatly affected many businesses in the state and will continue to make an impact on all areas of the state economy. The state lost over 50,000 workers within the first month of the passing of this law. What happens to ethnic neighborhoods where people are forced to move to other states or return home? This destroys businesses in the area, not just ethnic businesses. The illegal immigrants worked and spent money at places and therefore were essential to what we know the economy to be. Undocumented workers fled the state and left many businesses such as contractors, builders and roofers. These companies are forced to somehow find a complete new labor force, one that is apparently supposed to come from nowhere. The lawmakers think that new workers are supposed to spring up from the ground. The companies are supposed to be expected to pay high dollar workers. This will destroy their company. When you have such an immediate flux in payment, things will fail.

I just don’t understand where these new workers are supposed to come from. Undocumented workers accounted for over 50,000 workers in the labor force. How are we supposed to replace that many people in the labor force and not face problems of shutting down businesses? Isn’t the whole duty of small government to let the common man build a work force and a company? When you strip a hard working man of all his capital he will fail every time.

That is my concern for this bill and I was just curious of your thoughts on it. I know that there is no way to reverse a law as big as this, but I am just looking for some understanding as to why such a bill was passed.