He considers it a service to God but fears a new state law will consider it a crime.

Sometimes the people he takes to church are illegal immigrants.

A bill the governor signed into law last week says it's a felony to knowingly transport illegal immigrants in many cases.

It also makes it illegal, in many cases, to knowingly conceal, harbor or shelter an illegal immigrant.

The law takes effect in November but already has injected fear into the Hispanic community and the many non-Hispanics who serve them.

Vaughn estimates that at least a third of the Hispanics he drives to and from Southern Hills Baptist Church are in the country illegally.

"Oklahoma has gone and made a felon out of me," Vaughan said as he climbed into the van.

Many don't understand the law and all that it means. Trying to change that is the man who essentially wrote it, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore.

The law has exceptions that people don't see, he said, because they are based on case law and not written into the law itself.

Case law is based on judicial decisions and legal precedent rather than on statutes.

"The law is concerned with reason," Terrill said. "It is not concerned with irrational fear from people who won't bother to read the statute and figure out what it means."

The bill is called the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007

Ever since, people have been asking questions.

Will Vaughan be arrested for driving illegal immigrants to church?

Probably not, Terrill said.

Will a person be arrested for taking an illegal immigrant to work? Could be, he said.

That's because there are exceptions for transporting an illegal immigrant for religious, educational or humanitarian needs, he said.

The law doesn't say that, but Terrill, who is an attorney, said it's insinuated in a portion of the law that states you have to transport "in furtherance of the illegal presence of the alien in the United States."

It is based on federal law already in place.

So is the portion that makes it illegal to shelter, harbor or conceal someone "knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered or remained in the United States in violation of law."

The law also allows exceptions for transporting and harboring illegal immigrants for certain reasons, such as immunizations, emergency disaster relief and services necessary to protect one's life or safety.

Anyone who violates the law can be imprisoned for a year, be fined $1,000 or both.

Would a landlord who rents to an illegal immigrant be arrested for harboring? Could be, Terrill said.

A local priest asked whether he will be arrested for allowing people he knows are illegal immigrants to attend his church. Is that harboring an illegal immigrant?

Probably not, Terrill said.

Such things haven't occurred under the federal law, and they shouldn't occur under the new state law that mirrors it, he said.

"The fear is irrational. The statute relies on case law, and if people are concerned about that, they would have irrational fear about every law out there," he said.

"It is absolutely unrealistic to think the Legislature is going to craft a statute and take every possible situation into consideration, no matter how bizarre it is."

Terrill said these concerns are being raised by people who don't agree with the law, also known as House Bill 1804.

Anxiety among the community remains.

"It feels scary," Vaughan said. "I'm going to go about my business, but I'm not going to be relaxed about it."

Vaughan said he wouldn't stop driving Hispanic people to church, even if that means getting arrested. He'll just do it with more trepidation.

The Rev. David Medina is the director of Catholic Hispanic Ministries in the Diocese of Tulsa, which provides services to the Hispanic community such as taking people to church and to doctor appointments.

"The law is bringing a lot of fear, and people are very confused right now," Medina said. "They don't value anything in this proposal. (It's) trying to keep us from doing God's work and showing God's love to everybody."

Medina said the law wouldn't change anything he does.

"I'm not concerned," he said. "I am called by God to do his will. I need to be ready to help anybody, regardless of the consequences, because what I care about is the soul."

Terrill said the motivation behind these two parts of the law -- it also tries to prevent illegal immigrants from employment and public assistance -- wasn't to hinder good will but to address problems that he believes are hurting the state and nation.

The law against transporting illegal immigrants was meant to prevent anyone from taking them to job sites, he said. The portion about harboring and sheltering intends to target anyone who keeps an illegal immigrant from detection.

Vaughan supports immigration reform, he said, driving with a Hispanic family in the back seats. He wasn't sure whether all of them were in this country legally. He doesn't care.

"There are some 12 million people here illegally," he said. "If you think we're going to ship them out, that's impossible."

Leigh Bell 581-8465
leigh.bell@tulsaworld.com

ABOUT HOUSE BILL 1804

• It shall be unlawful for any person to transport, move, or attempt to transport in the State of Oklahoma any alien knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law, in furtherance of the illegal presence of the alien in the United States.

• It shall be unlawful for any person to conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection any alien in any place within the State of Oklahoma, including any building or means of transportation, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.

• Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to prohibit or restrict the provision of any state or local public benefit described in 8 U.S.C., Section 1621(b) (outlined below), or regulated public health services provided by a private charity using private funds.

Those exceptions summarized:

• Assistance for health-care items and services that are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition.

• Short-term, noncash, in-kind emergency disaster relief.

• Public health assistance for (most) immunizations.

• Programs, services, or assistance such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter specified by the United States attorney general.

• In-kind services at the community level, including through public or private nonprofit agencies.

• Services necessary for the protection of life or safety.

The bill can be viewed online at: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2007-08bills/hb/hb1804_int.rtf