Oklahoma Visa Task Force Recommendations Must Be Rejected
A recently published report from the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force, put together with statements made to local media by Task Force head, Tricia Everest, has ignited a firestorm among Oklahomans and watching Americans, and rightly so. In our current moment, as our border is being overrun, anything perceived as loosening immigration law is going to be received with a healthy degree of skepticism. The recent report from the Task Force provides plenty of legitimate basis for that pushback.
To be clear, the items in the Task Force report are merely suggestions for the legislature. We have been assured that they only intended to apply to legal immigrants, not illegal immigrants. However, there are still troubling issues with the Task Force report that must be addressed.
Context: HB4156 and the Creation of the Task Force Creation
HB4156, signed into law by Governor Stitt on April 30, 2024, was passed to enable state law enforcement to arrest individuals without legal authority to be in the U.S. The legislative intent was to address federal inaction and failure to maintain the rule of law on illegal immigration. Under the new law, a first offense results in up to one year of prison time and a $500 fine. A second or subsequent offense results in up to two years of prison and a $1,000 fine. Illegal immigrants must also leave the state within 72 hours of being released by the authorities. I am very thankful for the governor’s support on that important bill.
The same day he signed the bill, the Governor created the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force. The Task Force’s purpose was to explore state-level solutions to integrate immigrants legally into Oklahoma’s workforce, aiming to match workforce needs with available jobs, particularly in sectors like agriculture, aviation, and oil and gas. Let’s look at the five recommendations one-by-one.
Creation of an Office of New Oklahomans
This office would facilitate interagency coordination on issues affecting non-citizens and provide resources for employers to attract and retain international talent. It also suggests an Immigrant Advisory Council of non-citizens to advise the state government on immigration policy.
While helping those here legally is an admirable goal, there are problems here. The report points to other states with similar programs and specifically highlights Utah. We must be clear-eyed about what is happening in Utah. Utah’s New Americans Task Force highlights wanting to naturalize 60,000 immigrants as a goal to be achieved. Utah has loosened E-Verify requirements. They recently repealed a law making English the sole language on government documents. Illegal immigrants have access to a plethora of state benefits in education, health care, and other areas. On May 31, 2023, the Salt Lake City Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially designated Utah as a sanctuary state because of state policies friendly to illegal immigrants. The Oklahoma Task Force’s decision to highlight Utah as a good example of what they strive for with the Office of New Oklahomans raises major red flags.
While the creation of an Office of New Oklahomans may seem beneficial, we must be cautious, as it could push Oklahoma down the same problematic path that turned Utah into a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.
Creation of Resources for Businesses to Attract International Talent
The Task Force recommends the state create resources to help businesses navigate the credentialing and immigration process to attract international talent. Again, they point to Utah, highlighting quarterly information webinars with business leaders as an example of how Utah helps businesses navigate international hiring.
This appears unobjectionable, provided Utah will not be used as the template. We know that their handling of issues like this one has led to ICE labeling Utah a sanctuary state. It is easy for programs like this to be infiltrated with illegal immigration activists who will not act in the best interest of Oklahomans. The Task Force report shows that a leader from the Utah task force presented to the Oklahoma Task Force. Not only that, but other leaders specifically thanked by the Task Force report authors include the chief of the Tulsa Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity, Krystal Reyes, who formerly worked for the left-wing Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, as well as Rosa Diaz from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission who presented to the committee that “[t]he aim is to implement a state-level work permit program that offers undocumented immigrants a legal pathway to work and live in Oklahoma” (emphasis mine).
The Task Force’s choice of subject experts and states to look at as a model gives tremendous cause for skepticism, even about programs that appear unobjectionable on the surface.
Issuance of Driving Privilege Cards
The Task Force suggests issuing Driving Privilege Cards to qualified non-citizens. They would have to prove legal residency in the U.S. (like a work visa, for instance) and have no criminal record to be eligible.
Even with assurances that illegal immigrants are not what the Task Force had in mind, this is concerning. Again, this idea comes from Utah, which does assign these cards to illegal immigrants. Further, legal immigrants in Oklahoma can already obtain a driver’s license by providing documentation of legitimate residency. So why are these cards being brought up if not because the Task Force had illegal immigrants in mind? That question puzzles both me and KOCO, who reported that “Oklahoma Task Force Recommends Undocumented Immigrants Be Allowed to Get ‘Driving Privilege Cards.’”
Currently, 19 states–all of them blue states–and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to allow unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Minnesota allow immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses without proof of lawful presence. Among other things, and as with most liberal policies of laxity on immigration, a two-tiered identification standard creates a double standard that places higher standards on the existing citizenry than it does on newcomers.
Promotion of Policies for Credentialing Processes
The report recommends streamlining the credentialing process for foreign workers in high-demand sectors. They point to Georgia SB529, which grants temporary medical licenses to foreign medical professionals to work in rural areas, as a good example. The report emphasizes that this increased licensing of foreign workers “can provide pathways to students with DACA status.”
Regardless of President Obama’s tyrannical ignoring and rewriting of U.S. immigration law, Oklahoma law is clear. While we as individuals must be loving, that love includes our countrymen whose lives are substantially damaged by illegal immigration. Our laws should not be in any way enabling those who are in the United States illegally, nor enticing other would-be immigrants to break the law.
Innovative Solutions for Work Permits and Visas
The report recommends that Oklahoma “Collaborate with community-based organizations, higher education institutions and other relevant agencies to increase the number of cap-exempt H1B visas in high-demand sectors.”
The Center for Immigration Studies reports, “The H-1B program has transformed over time from a means to supplement the American tech workforce to a means of cheaply replacing it.” Jobs being in high demand is a good thing. That means American workers have leverage to negotiate for high-paying jobs. Increasing visas decreases the salaries of American workers, and the idea that there is some massive crisis of a lack of skilled American workers is a farce. We are already suffering from the effects of an invasion at the border and far too much immigration in a short period without assimilation. We should not be increasing immigration anywhere until that crisis is over.
The Task Force’s push for “Innovative Solutions for Work Permits and Visas,” including state-issued visas and increasing H1B visas, raises serious concerns from an “Oklahoma First” standpoint. Economically, these programs can displace local workers, depress wages, and create over-reliance on foreign labor, which harms Oklahoma’s job market and cultural cohesion. Biblically, such policies threaten the well-being of our neighbors by prioritizing foreign workers over local citizens, contrary to the principles of justice and stewardship (Galatians 6:10). While we are ultimately commanded to love everyone, we are called to love with highest priority those God has placed closest to us in our families, communities, states, nations, and then the world. Oklahoma must prioritize its residents, uphold constitutional boundaries, and protect its cultural and economic integrity.
Conclusion
The people of Oklahoma deserve a State government that protects their economic and social interests first and foremost. Putting us on a path to becoming like Utah on this issue is not the way to do that. Given the current invasion at the border enabled by President Biden and former Border Czar, Kamala Harris, now is the time to strengthen our immigration policies, not weaken them.
Oklahoma lawmakers, like myself, should oppose implementing the recommendations in question, which do not prioritize Oklahomans and undercut our recent immigration reforms.
Image Credit: Unsplash
You are absolutely Right Senator Deevers! Please continue getting the information out to concerned OK! Big government has totally taken over and is robbing of of our freedoms and rights!