Gallegly Introduces 6 Bills to Stem Influx of Illegal Immigrants : Politics: The Simi Valley congressman has unsuccessfully proposed most of the controversial legislation before. Stiff opposition is expected.

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who has made fighting illegal immigration his cause celebre in recent years, introduced six bills Wednesday intended to curb the influx over thS. border.

“What America is facing today is a crisis, as the flood of illegal aliens continues virtually unchecked,” said Gallegly, who represents all of Ventura County except most of Thousand Oaks. “The problems generated by these uncounted, unwanted millions of people are legion.”

Most of the controversial package is similar to legislation Gallegly sponsored in the last session of Congress that did not advance. A number of the proposals had previously been put forward by others in one form or another. They appear likely to face stiff opposition again.

Gallegly, who focused on the illegal immigration issue during his hotly contested reelection race last fall, is now in a stronger position to pursue the legislation. He recently was appointed to the House judiciary subcommittee on international law, immigration and refugees, which handles all immigration legislation in that chamber.

He is the second lawmaker representing Ventura County to put forth a series of bills on illegal immigration this week.

On Tuesday, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), whose district includes most of Thousand Oaks, introduced his own package of five initiatives.

In Gallegly’s legislative package, one bill would require the establishment of a tamper-proof registration card that legal non-citizen residents would use to apply for jobs, welfare or other government services. Gallegly said this is necessary to stem widespread document counterfeiting.

Civil liberties groups contend that such cards could become the equivalent of a domestic passport, subject to abuse by law enforcement authorities. They also warn that they could become the basis for the government to establish dossiers on individuals.

Another measure seeks to discourage employers from hiring illegal immigrants by permitting law enforcement to impound vehicles used to transport illegal immigrants to job sites.

Gallegly also proposes increasing the number of authorized Border Patrol positions from 4,143 agents to 6,600, giving priority to military personnel discharged due to defense cutbacks. Even if these bills are passed and signed into law, funds would still have to be appropriated by Congress to fill the jobs.

The four-term lawmaker again has included a bill to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining welfare and unemployment benefits. Some immigration experts say this is already outlawed. But Gallegly said the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that illegal immigrants cost taxpayers more than $5.4 billion in direct benefits.

The one entirely new proposal in the package would cut off federal assistance to local governments that do not cooperate with the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s efforts to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. Gallegly said 1,064 illegal immigrants were arrested during last spring’s Los Angeles riot and returned to their native countries.

In addition, Gallegly plans to reintroduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States, an aide said. Beilenson, the only Democrat to endorse this initiative in the last Congress, introduced his own version of the much-debated amendment this week.

Critics, including Latino advocates, have asserted that Gallegly has seized on a racially charged issue that plays on the anxieties of white conservative voters throughout his 23rd District, which includes Carpinteria and all of Ventura County except most of Thousand Oaks. They point to the proposed constitutional amendment--which is given no chance of passage--as a prime example.

“I don’t know that there’s disagreement on every issue that he raises, but I think his approach is an extreme overreaction to what he sees as problems,” Moorpark City Councilman Bernardo Perez said Wednesday.

Sam Rodriguez, who managed the campaign of Anita Perez Ferguson, an Oxnard Democrat who opposed Gallegly in November, said, “It was this issue that reelected him . . . the continuous subliminal reminder that illegal aliens were taking away American jobs.”