Ingebrigtsen moving forward on Minnesota Legislative Caucus on Immigration

Talk about it

Lawmakers heard from state and federal law officers, fraud investigators and corrections officials during the first official capitol hearing of the Minnesota Legislative Caucus on Immigration (MLCI).

“This is an issue that I’ve heard about from constituents since I decided to run for the senate in 2006,” said Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria. “The contributions that legal immigrants make to our communities should not be overlooked. Just as legitimately, the problems that we see attributed to illegal immigrants in law enforcement and fraud of government assistance programs should not be overlooked either.”

As one of the senators involved in the immigration issue, Ingebrigtsen hopes the hearings will bring to light the effect and cost of illegal immigration in the state, especially in the areas of identity theft, public assistance fraud and criminal investigations.

Last summer and fall, Senator Ingebrigtsen, together with neighboring Senator Joe Gimse (R-Willmar), conducted informal, but extensive hearings around Minnesota on the issue, and agreed that more attention to the issue was needed.

Republican leaders of the MLCI echoed a statement made earlier in the week by Governor Pawlenty regarding the inability to have any immigration bills heard in the tradition channels of the DFL-dominated Legislature.

“My hope is to make people aware of this issue and enact meaningful legislative policies that address this very real problem we face throughout Minnesota,” concluded Ingebrigtsen.

State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent input, and can be reached at (651) 297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155, or via e-mail at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.

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