State Rep. Leo Berman, a Republican who said President Obama was “God’s punishment,” plans to introduce a birther bill similiar to Arizona’s:

A state lawmaker wants to make sure that any candidate on the presidential ticket from now on can show proof they were born in the United States — or not be allowed on the Texas ballot.

State Rep. Leo Berman this week said he’s planning to file several immigration-related bills once Texas lawmakers get back to work in January, including one that requires presidential and vice presidential candidates to prove their citizenship to the Texas secretary of state before their names are added to the ballot.

This is similar to one provision in the immigration law recently approved in Arizona.

“We’ll do it,” said Berman, R-Tyler, and a former Arlington mayor pro tem. “We’ll do it from now on. If he can’t prove citizenship … he won’t have a place on the Texas ballot.”

Berman was referring to President Barack Obama, whose birthplace has been questioned by some since before he took office. Although his campaign produced a birth certificate that shows Obama was born in Hawaii, some speculate that he was actually born in Kenya, where his father lived.

As intelligent, non-racist people know, there is no merit to birther claims whatsover. But these conspiracy theories persist so much that Hawaii legislators have passed a measure allowing the irHealth department to ignore repeated requests from a person or organization for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

Anyway, Rep. Berman also plans to join Rep. Debbie Riddle in supporting an Arizona-style immigration bill. Hank Gilbert, the Democratic candidate for Agriculture Commissioner, put out a statement in response:

“The fact of the matter is this: Undocumented immigrants make up a significant segment of the agricultural labor force in Texas. These men and women help Texas grow food not just for our state, but for the rest of the nation,” Gilbert said in a written statement. “If you take away their ability to move freely within our society and survive without being under constant threat of police action, they will go somewhere else for jobs.

“Now, I know that’s probably what Rep. Berman wants — he’d rather undocumented individuals go to Oklahoma or Louisiana to work,” he said. “But the fact is that we have a vital ag industry in Texas, and we have work for people who come to Texas from Latin America and Mexico.”

The article goes on to point out that the Mexican American Legislative Caucus makes up nearly one-third of the Texas House of Representatives, so there’s a question as to how far these bills will get.