Posted on 05/10/2006 11:06:19 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
WASHINGTON -- Employers would have to check Social Security numbers and the immigration status of all new hires under a tentative Senate agreement on toughening sanctions against people who provide jobs to illegal immigrants.
Those who don't and who hire an illegal immigrant would be subject to fines of $200 to $6,000 per violation.
Employers found to have actually hired illegal immigrants once an electronic system for the checks is in place could be fined up to $20,000 per unauthorized worker and even sentenced to jail for repeat offenses.
What to do with people who hire illegal immigrants has been one of the stumbling points in putting together a broad immigration bill that tightens borders, but also addresses the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the United States.
Congress left it to employers to ensure they were hiring legal workers when they passed an immigration law in 1986 and provided penalties for those who didn't. But the law was not strictly enforced and the market grew for fraudulent documents.
Senate Republicans and Democrats are hoping this week to reach a compromise on more contentious parts of the immigration bill so they can vote on it before Memorial Day.
The employer sanctions were negotiated separately from other parts of the broader bill after some senators raised concerns about privacy of tax information, liability of employers and worker protections.
Employers are wary of the system Congress wants them to use and say it would be unreliable.
"What's going to happen when you have individuals legally allowed to work in the United States, but they can't confirm it?" asked Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Critics say expanding a Web-based screening program, now used on a trial basis by about 6,200 employers, to cover everyone might create a version of the no-fly lists used for screening airline passengers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Infants and Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts were among people barred from boarding a plane because names identical to their own were on a government list of suspected terrorists.
"This will be the no-work list," predicted Tim Sparapani, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Last year, employers in the trial screening program submitted names and identifying information on more than 980,000 people. Of them, about 148,000 were flagged for further investigation. Only 6,202 in that group were found to be authorized to work.
U.S. citizens could come up as possible illegal workers if, for example, they change their last names when they marry but fail to update Social Security records.
All non-citizens submitted to the system are referred to the Homeland Security Department, even if their Social Security number is valid.
A bill passed by the House would impose stiff employer sanctions, but does not couple them with a guest worker program, drawing opposition from business. The bill also would give employers six years to screen all previously hired employees still on the payroll as well as new hires - altogether, about 140 million people.
The Senate agreement proposes screening all new hires but only a limited number of people hired previously -specifically, those who have jobs important to the nation's security.
Negotiating the Senate agreement are Republican Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democrats Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barack Obama of Illinois and Max Baucus of Montana.
Their plan would give employers 18 months to start using the verification system once it is financed. It would create a process for workers to keep their jobs and be protected from discrimination while contesting a finding that they are not authorized to work.
To check compliance and fight identity theft, the legislation would allow the Homeland Security Department limited access to tax and Social Security information.
The Social Security Administration, for example, would give homeland security officials lists of employers who submit large numbers of employees who are not verified as legal workers. The Internal Revenue Service would provide those employers' tax identification numbers, names and addresses.
Social Security also would share lists of Social Security numbers repeatedly submitted to the verification system for different jobs.
The senators also want to increase the number of work site investigators to 10,000, a 50-fold increase. President Bush asked Congress in January to provide more than $130 million to expand the trial system. That's not expected to be enough.
Posse Set To Roll
Beginning Wednesday in Arizon's Maricopa County, a 250-member posse will operate similarly to the county's official anti-smuggler task force, patrolling the area for illegal immigrants who pay smugglers to cross through Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
The posse will be made up of existing sheriff's deputies and members of the department's 3,000-member posse reserve of trained, unpaid volunteers.
Those who are captured by the posse may end up in jail, charged under a state law that has been used against more than 100 illegal immigrants in Maricopa County this year.
The law made human smuggling a state crime in Arizona - it was already a federal crime - allowing local law enforcement agencies to arrest suspected smugglers. It was meant to crack down on smugglers, but under a disputed interpretation, County Attorney Andrew Thomas argues the law can be applied to the smuggled immigrants themselves.
Thomas maintains illegal immigrants who pay smugglers to enter the United States are committing conspiracy to smuggle and can therefore be prosecuted under the state law.
The sheriff's office began arresting illegal immigrants under that interpretation in March, and with the new posse, will continue doing so by patrolling desert areas and main roadways in the southwestern part of the county.
"I'm going to catch as many as I can and throw them in my jail," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "And the jails are not that nice."
It remains to be seen whether a judge will uphold the smuggling law as applicable to illegal immigrants. Lawyers for some arrested illegal immigrants have filed motions to have the charges dismissed.
A Los Angeles attorney brought into the case by the Mexican Consul General's Office in Phoenix filed another motion claiming Thomas and Arpaio are violating state and federal law and are using the conspiracy charges to control illegal immigration, which is the federal government's job.
Arpaio said the motions don't worry him.
"I get sued when I go to the toilet. You think I'm worried about it?" he said. "If they think I'm going to slow down because of these threats, I've got news for them - I'm not going to slow down. I'll do more of it."
Alfredo Gutierrez, a Hispanic activist and former Democratic state senator, called Thomas' interpretation of the law and Arpaio's use of it "political pranks."
"Every act like this contributes to the angst and anger and desperation in our community," Gutierrez said.
Elias Bermudez, president of the pro-immigrant group Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras, or Immigrants Without Borders, questions the legality of the immigration posse itself.
"It is racial profiling," he said. "They don't follow guys that are blond and blue-eyed."
Bermudez said Arpaio is "a good criminal sheriff, but he needs to go out there and find criminals. He wants to go after the poor, undocumented immigrant who is hungry and thirsty in the desert. That is totally inhumane."
I thought employers were already required to check SSNs.
employer sanctions (that are actually enforced) is the way to go - take away job prospects, and alot of illegals will deport themselves.
the problem is going to be - this system would need to be in place for 2-3 years (perhaps more given the legal challenges from the left), not accompanied by amnesty, to get the glitches out and get the businesses squared up with the law. only after a 2-3 year period, would any type of guest worker program be considered.
yeah, and 000-00-0000 seems to work just fine.
yeah, the senate to the rescue. lol. our gov't is a complete joke.
Supposed to. But it obviously doesn't happen.
This should scare every illegal back home. Not!
The problem is the Catch-22 situation regarding SS numbers.
Those who don't and who hire an illegal immigrant would be subject to fines of $200 to $6,000 per violation.
Employers found to have actually hired illegal immigrants once an electronic system for the checks is in place could be fined up to $20,000 per unauthorized worker and even sentenced to jail for repeat offenses
Yes but here is the loop hole. You can bet it will take years to get the system in place. Just start with the &20,000 fine and check them over the phone or whatever. Enough of these games.
There are a lot of people who are investigated for tax fraud because of unclaimed income. They find out that an illegal had their SSN.
That would be "people" such as Cargill Meat Packing, Purdue, Tyson, and Swift, all of which shut down all or most of their regional plants on May Day.
Why would AP have to put up a story about a "tentative Senate agreement"? The Senate won't be taking this up again until next week. This is old news.
Infants and Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts were among people barred from boarding a plane because names identical to their own were on a government list of suspected terrorists.
&&
Well, the infants got on there by mistake, but old Teddy is a terrorist supporter.
let's face it, all of these fears of a national ID card aside - we need a new social security card for all americans. the current social security card is ridiculous, a simple number printed on a white and blue piece of paper, is the basis for all employment, wages, taxation, banking, etc. its crazy, we need a more secure card with a biometric.
I agree, but I'm skeptical--very skeptical--of the govt's willingness to enforce any such program. And if Ted Kennedy supports any form of it, then I'm against it. Kennedy will never support any program that might actually reduce the amnesty of illegals.
Gives the pols a chance to appear tough on illegals but with multiple "outs" when it comes to future enforcements. Just as the '86 amnesty program did.
Exactly! We already have laws on the books.
The Government just does not enforce them.
This will be just another law that looks good on paper, but will never be enforced. Another Washington slight of hand.
if they paid $20 an hour, and invested in some automation to improve productivity at those plants - they would be just fine.
Every place I worked the last 25 years required 2 pieces of ID, and 1 of those had to be a photoID --- but then, I'm a Caucasian American, so I guess that's the reason.
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