Is Az the first state to punish those who hire ILLEGALS??
Businesses repeat plea to leave immigration issue to U.S. authorities
Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 20, 2007 12:00 AM
State lawmakers are once again grappling with how to punish employers for hiring illegal workers, who they believe are drawn here by easy job opportunities.
It's a familiar problem that prompts a familiar message from businesses that would have to live with any new law: State solutions won't work. Stand back and let the federal government take the lead on a nationwide standard to ensure workers are legally authorized to work here.
But the lawmakers are not likely to heed that advice when they consider two measures today. advertisement
• House Bill 2779, sponsored by state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, would require employers to swear in an affidavit that they have not knowingly hired an "unauthorized alien."
• House Bill 2699, sponsored by state Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-Yuma, would require employers to check the employment status of new hires against a federal database.
Republicans and Democrats say they've felt pressure from constituents to do something to clamp down on businesses that employ undocumented workers. Republicans, who control both chambers of the Legislature, ranked employer sanctions as one of their priorities this year.
Pearce has been running tough-on-immigration bills for years. Many of those have been successful, but he has had a hard time convincing his Republican colleagues of the merits of clamping down on employers. His HB2779 would include penalties starting at $5,000 for a first offense and could extend to suspension or loss of the business' license.
As a backup, as he has done in previous years, Pearce has put an identical measure into a resolution (HCR2051) that would go to the voters in 2008 if his bill fails.
Ulmer's bill includes employer sanctions as part of a larger measure dealing with border security. Fines also would start at $5,000. A third violation within three years would bring suspension of the business license. The bill would not apply to businesses with fewer than 40 employees, which is designed to protect small business. It would be effective on hires made as of Jan. 1, 2009, to give the federal government time to improve its database, the Basic Pilot Program.
Democrats have paired employer sanctions with proposals to tighten border security, by providing grants to help local law-enforcement agencies along the border.
Ulmer, a freshman lawmaker, said she brings the sensibility of the border to the raucous immigration debate.
"We want to have accountability, but we don't want to put people out of business," she said.
Pearce doesn't make such exceptions, saying it's inexcusable to hire people who have entered the country illegally.
Answer:
I like it. We need accountability. I bet the question gets removed though. For some reason people don't seem to want us to circulate facts and supporting evidence. My questions based on articles tend to be removed. Go figure!
The immigration information post by website user , MyTend.com not guarantee correctness