Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Rep. Leo Berman

AUSTIN - Last year's legislative session may best be remembered for political turmoil, especially the failed efforts to oust unpopular House Speaker Tom Craddick. But there were other divisive issues that triggered as much tension and nasty verbal exchanges.

It could be more of the same in next year's session, and not necessarily because of another speaker's fight.

For starters, on Monday Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, introduced a series of bills aimed at putting the brakes on illegal immigration in Texas, including one that would make English the official language of the state. And although a number of legislators and legal analysts don't think Berman's bills will go anywhere, all sides agree that the proposed legislation is likely to trigger legislative infighting.

If that happens, Panhandle and South Plains legislators could be dragged into the political melee, just like last year.

"I am confident that they will get through the House this time," Berman said of the bills he filed Monday. The ones he filed last year never saw the light of day because they were killed by Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, which held preliminary hearings on the bills.

Swinford said he killed Berman's bills because if they had passed the Legislature, they could not have survived court challenges and the state would have been stuck with millions of dollars in legal fees defending them.

Berman is uncertain whether his bills can pass in the Senate because the upper chamber requires two-thirds of its 31 members to agree on bringing a bill to the floor, and supporters do not have that majority.

Undeterred, Berman said he filed his bills because he's frustrated that the federal government has done little to stop illegal immigration.

"If it is a federal issue, why hasn't the government dealt with it?" he asked.

"Illegal aliens are costing our state millions of dollars," he said. "At Parkland Hospital in Dallas, 70 percent of all births are to illegal aliens and we have 25,000 illegal aliens in jail that are costing the government $39 million. It's the largest unfunded mandate in our state."

His English-only bill would require all state government agencies to communicate and conduct work in English, he said.

His bill is similar to other measures that Arizona, California and other states have passed in recent years, he said.

Berman filed another bill that would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, and another that would require employers to verify whether an immigrant worker is here legally.

Swinford and Rep. Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton, say they understand Berman's frustration but the law is clear: Illegal immigration is a federal issue.

"I cannot comment on those bills because I have no idea what committees I am going to be in or what committee will hear those bills" in January, Swinford said. "(But) my personal reading is that the Constitution has not changed. Immigration is part of the federal government, not of the state."

Heflin said he anticipates that Berman's bills would trigger ugly fights on the House floor, mainly along partisan lines, with a majority of Republicans in favor and a majority of Democrats opposed.

"I think Swinford is absolutely correct," Heflin said. "I think that the (Texas) attorney general is going to come back with the same opinion that this is a federal issue and that we would be well advised not to deal with it."