STOP GOVERNMENT BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS PETITION - Sponsored by SECURE ARKANSAS SIGN THE PETITION BELOW Only If you Are An Adult Resident of Arkansas. We, the undersigned, petition our Governor and Arkansas State Legislators to implement laws that would prevent persons unlawfully present in the United States from receiving public benefits, and require every state agency or political subdivision to verify the lawful presence in the United States of citizens applying for any public benefits. Further explanation: In just 39 business days, Secure Arkansas collected 56,122 signatures toward a ballot initiative to "Prevent Persons Unlawfully Present In The United States From Receiving Certain Public Benefits." We were short of the minimum of 61, 974 by 5,852 signatures. Ninety percent of the registered voters we approached were signing the petition. We just ran out of time. We were delayed about 30 days by the Attorney General who refused to approve our ballot title on two occasions. In those 30 extra days we could have easily met our goal. Therefore, our initiative will not be on the ballot this fall. However, our efforts sent a message to legislators; and the coalitions we formed and our unified efforts will have a real impact on the legislators and on this problem. We hope to help legislators get some laws passed during the legislative session beginning in January 2009. The more signatures we can obtain, the more impact we can have. Please help us by signing the petition. Our governor's office declares no illegal aliens are receiving benefits in Arkansas. However, in gathering signatures for this petition, workers at grocery stores told us they get food stamps and qualify for the WIC program (WIC is a program by the Department of Public Health that provides food checks to pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under age five). Workers at a Medicaid office said a huge number of them get Medicaid. A pharmacist told us that he knows without a doubt that many of them get free prescriptions. One lady who works in child support said they are getting free legal aid. These are just a few of the benefits about which we were told. The people who gave us this information said all these illegal aliens had nothing but a Mexican I.D. to get these benefits. In fact, the people who worked in these state offices that oversee state benefits were the angriest about the situation because they see every day the injustice of it all. Many of them have offered their anonymous help to prove that these illegal aliens are getting benefits. That will be of great value to us. There are certain benefits that the state cannot deny. For example, federal law requires EMERGENCY health care for illegal aliens and education K-12. However, Arkansas can and should deny such things as welfare, food stamps, assisted living, Medicaid, assistance with utilities, in-state tuition and scholarships for college students, etc. That is what this petition is about. Arkansas is Number One in the nation now in the increase of Hispanics. Our Governor has said we don't need any more laws; but Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arizona, and Missouri have passed some tough illegal alien laws. At least eighteen states have passed illegal alien laws. Many of the illegal immigrants are leaving those states and are coming to Arkansas. We need your help in order to keep Arkansas from becoming a sanctuary state and to prevent our tax dollars from subsidizing illegal immigrants when our own citizens are suffering because of the financial condition of our state and country. For more information, or if you are willing to help us in this endeavor go to www.securearkansas.com. You can register there as a volunteer. You can email Secure Arkansas at this email: [email protected]