Posted on 12/03/2005 10:09:12 AM PST by John Jorsett
Lieutenant governor candidate Morris "Mo" Brooks is pushing a bill that would make it a crime for employers to hire illegal aliens. It also provides financial incentives for whistle-blowers to turn in violators.
The "Stop Employment of Illegal Aliens Act, would make it a felony to knowingly employ an illegal alien. Brooks calls it the "See Ya Act," playing off its acronym, SEIAA.
Brooks, a Madison County commissioner from Huntsville, said the recent shooting death of Huntsville police officer Daniel Golden and a rash of recent traffic fatalities in Huntsville caused by illegal immigrant drivers motivated him.
"It's been a growing series of events involving illegal aliens that has helped to educate me about the magnitude of the problem," Brooks said Friday. "Someone needs to take action and do something about it."
Efforts to reach state Hispanic leaders for comment were unsuccessful.
Brooks, who intends to ask the County Commission to endorse the bill Monday, said states must protect themselves because the federal government has failed to stop the influx of illegal immigrants.
"The cause of Alabama's illegal alien disaster is simple: Too many people hire illegal aliens despite their illegal status," Brooks said in a news release. "These people are motivated by personal profit and care not one twit about the damage their conduct inflicts on the rest of Alabama."
Penalties for each offense would include fines of up to $5,000, up to 10 years imprisonment, court costs and a "wage penalty" equal to whichever is greater: $5,000 or triple the profit made from hiring illegal aliens. The "profit" is the difference between the going wage for that job in the area and what the illegal immigrant was actually paid.
"If illegal aliens can't get jobs in Alabama, illegal aliens who are here will leave and illegal aliens who aren't here won't come. It's just that simple," Brooks said.
The bill does not specify steps employers must make to ensure the worker is in the country legally.
Russell Davis, an officer with the Homebuilders Association of Alabama, said there is no way for contractors to check the immigration status of everyone on a construction site.
"In a typical situation where someone hires a subcontractor and that sub winds up having an illegal alien on that crew, who's committing the felony?" he said. He called the bill an "overreaching" effort to deal with the problem.
Davis said some employers would be unfairly prosecuted because they didn't go far enough investigating the immigration status of a would-be worker.
"Some of these folks who are here illegally know how to work the system to fabricate documents," Davis said. "Is that a felony if he hires someone who has false credentials?"
Brooks said the bill is clear on what constitutes a violation. "The evidence must be such that the employer knows the person he's hired is an illegal alien," he said.
Exceptions are made for small, temporary jobs such as a homeowner hiring a yard man.
Mike Ward, vice president of governmental affairs for the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber hasn't studied the bill enough to offer any comment.
Brooks will face at least two others in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor: former state treasurer George Wallace Jr., who sits on the Public Service Commission, and Birmingham attorney Luther Strange.
Former Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. has been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
This is the only way to stop illegal immigration. Penelize the employer. Dry up the jobs and the flow of illegals will stop
This will hurt small business owners, many of whom cannot afford to hire non-illegal American workers. It's an ugly truth but a truth nonetheless.
I thought it was already a Federal Law that you couldn't hire Illegals.
When I am processing payroll, I have to be very careful that the proper documents are given to me by the applicant.
It may make enforcement easier if there is some local laws, also, and I am in favor of that.
BTW- head to Home Depot first.........
The costs may be awash when you consider all of the services (medical, schools, etc) that the illegals receive.
Me either, but the problem is that too many big enployers greasing the palms of unscrupulous politicians. Case in point; the Tyson lawsuit a few years back finding no evidence that Tyson was hiring illegals. Any idiot spending a day in Springdale, Arknasas could refute those findings.
Brooks has to get some traction as it is all but a given that George Wallace, Jr. will be the GOP nominee for Lieutenant-Governor.
I keep hoping that Bud Cramer retires.
ping
'Bama Bump!
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Not at all. I'm just saying that illegals are hired for the bald fact that they are a cheaper source of labor.
"I keep hoping that Bud Cramer retires."
Cramer has been resisting entreaties to switch for over a decade now. Sen. Shelby has tried to work on him, but no such luck. Although the 5th district is majority GOP at the Presidential level (and trickling down a bit at the legislative level), it has not sent a Republican to the House since the first election after it was readmitted to the Union for the remainder of the 1868 Congress (then it was split into 2 districts, the 5th and 6th). It did, however, when it was the ancestral 8th (now within virtually the same boundaries it is today), twice send a radical leftist Greenbacker in 1878 and 1880, the only other time it sent a non-Democrat.
Excellent!
"In a typical situation where someone hires a subcontractor and that sub winds up having an illegal alien on that crew, who's committing the felony?" he said. He called the bill an "overreaching" effort to deal with the problem.
Amazingly, Russell’s mind will focus sharply and come to a clear understanding about all this the first time an employer of illegals is fined $5,000 a head, 10 years in jail, court costs and the “wage penalty”.
And the agricultural wheel of Alabama comes to a screeching halt....
This is a good idea.
>>>"The evidence must be such that the employer knows the person he's hired is an illegal alien," he said.<<<
This is smoke-and-mirrors, Bush style. Employers will simply refuse to ask new employees if they are illegal.
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