That's my point, Dale. There is no one solution...and you are absolutely correct, employer sanctions are a major component of solving the problem.
I don't mean token fines levied against the giants like Wal-Mart and ConAgra.
I mean shutting down Tyson plants, shutting down my sister's box company in Phoenix, shutting down landscaping companies in LA, shutting down construction companies in Vegas and Atlanta...
The problem is pervasive and the solution must needs be the same.
I don't mean token fines levied against the giants like Wal-Mart and ConAgra.
I mean shutting down Tyson plants, shutting down my sister's box company in Phoenix, shutting down landscaping companies in LA, shutting down construction companies in Vegas and Atlanta...
If not shutting them down, make the fines so onerous that employers will NOT hire illegals. For instance, for a first offense, fine the employer (who would be forced to do a social security check on a new employee) $1000.00 per illegal caught on their payroll. Give them a break for a first offense. Second offense, fine them $10,000 per illegal. Third offense, the fine would be $100,000 per illegal. Somehow I doubt that any business would be caught more than once.
Mark
Some laws will have to change. Right now many employers are caught between a rock and a hard spot. Many laws on discrimination and privacy do not allow employers to make sure a person is legal. I talked to a business owner a few days ago about this. He became suspicious that 3 employees were using fake Social Security numbers. He called Social Security to see if he could get them verified and they told him no. He was told he did not have the right to have that information. He let the men go on the suspicion they were illegal, personally he was convinced. The employees filed a suit against him for discrimination and at no point were they required to be verified as legal, he had to give them their jobs back to settle. Other employers have refused to hire on the grounds they thought the applicants were illegal and they were sued for descrimination. Yet if the government chooses to enforce laws already on the books against hiring illegals an employeer can be fined a lot of money for hiring them.
This business owner told me the only way he could really protect himself is to require ALL applicants/employees to pass an extensive background check; at his or their expense. His business cannot possibly afford to carry that burden, and his employees are not paid enough for them to shoulder the burden. If a business singles out certain employees for scrutiny that is discrimination.
Of course some employers seek out illegals and even help them get false documents; so there would have to be a way to punish the guilty employers without punishing the innocent ones too. It really is a tangled web we have woven in this country in regards to illegals over the past 35 or so years.