# Green wants tax breaks for legal immigrants



## CJIS (Mar 12, 2005)

*Green wants tax breaks for legal immigrants*

*GOP candidate would restrict access to services, college for illegals*

*BY SCOTT BAUER*

*Associated Press*

*CLEAR DIFFERENCES*
*OTHER OBJECTIVES*

MADISON - U.S. Rep. Mark Green wants to welcome legal immigrants with tax breaks, while sending a message that people who come here illegally are not wanted by making it harder for them to get state services and go to college.

The Republican candidate for governor unveiled the plan Tuesday in Milwaukee and took the opportunity to outline differences he has on immigration policy with his opponent Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

Green said Doyle's policies send a "terrible signal" that Wisconsin is friendly to illegal immigrants.

The number of illegal immigrants in the state is increasing. There were about 8,000 in 1996, which increased to 41,000 in 2003, according to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service. By last year there were 85,000, according to the Federation for 
American Immigration Reform.

Immigration has become a bigger issue in the governor's race in the past week, with both candidates releasing television ads attacking the other on the topic.
There are clear differences in their positions.

Green does not support Doyle's 2005 proposal to allow illegal immigrants who graduate from state high schools to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The GOP-controlled Legislature stripped the idea from Doyle's budget.

Green also said he would have signed a bill requiring identification before people can get state services such as food stamps and welfare. Doyle vetoed it in May.
The measure had been widely attacked by groups who said it would block benefits for 
U.S. citizens who don't have birth certificates or other documents.

Illegal immigrants are not eligible now for government benefits, but the bill's supporters said they were coming to Wisconsin because it was easy to get around state restrictions.

Those who lobbied against the measure included the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, Planned Parenthood, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, and the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, which represents 18 major health plans in Wisconsin.

Green has accused Doyle of wanting to give welfare benefits to illegal immigrants, but Doyle said that is a lie. In his veto message, Doyle said he did not believe illegal immigrants should receive public services.

Green said Tuesday he had no idea how many illegal immigrants are receiving the benefits.

Green's plan wasn't all about fighting illegal immigration.

He also proposed a $300 income tax credit to cover the cost of English classes and expenses immigrants incur during the citizenship process. The credit, capped at $3 million annually, would be available only to people earning less than $30,000 a year.

That part of the plan would require legislative approval.
Green, a child of first-generation U.S. residents, said he believes immigrants who come to the country legally "help rejuvenate our economy and our culture." Giving them a tax break, no matter the amount, shows that the state supports them, he said.

Doyle's campaign spokes-man Anson Kaye dismissed Green's plan as election-year rhetoric.

"Congressman Green had eight years in Congress to help secure our borders, but he failed over and over again," Kaye said. "Now, like any typical Washington politician, he's blaming everyone but himself for the problem he failed to solve."
Green said he also wants to:

• Prohibit local ordinances that bar government employees from asking a person's immigration status. Dane County has such a policy.

• Require the Department of Corrections to notify federal officials if anyone charged with a felony or drunken driving is not a legal resident.

• Prohibit illegal immigrants charged with a felony from being released on bail.

• Require businesses receiving state contracts or grants to verify the lawful employment of their new employees.

What the hell? I should get a tax break to then because I am a Legal Citizen.


----------

