Illegal immigrant legislation targets unlicensed drivers, employers

Massachusetts

Prompted by three traffic deaths involving illegal immigrants in Milford since 2009, a group of lawmakers is pushing legislation that would create stiffer penalties for unlicensed drivers and make it harder for illegal immigrants to find work and housing.

“We know it’s a controversial bill with opposition from advocates, and it will take time to get passed,” said Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, one of five sponsors of the bill. “But we’re hoping as soon as possible because this bill will save lives.”

While the three deaths, and at least two others involving unlicensed illegal immigrants, have caught public and media attention, statistics indicate that the problem of unlicensed drivers in Massachusetts is much smaller than in the rest of the country.

By Richard Sobey/Daily News correspondent
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted May 29, 2012 @ 12:00 AM

The bill, filed last September by Fernandes, Rep. George Peterson, R-Grafton, and Sens. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, and Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, would raise the current fines of $100 to $1,000 for anyone driving without a license.

The bill would create a $500 fine for a first offense, $500 to $1,000 fine and/or a 30-day jail term for a second offense, and $1,000 to $2,000 fine and/or a 60-day jail sentence for a third or subsequent offense.

Police also may require the suspect to forfeit his or her vehicle after the third offense.

Other provisions of the bill specifically target illegal immigrants, denying them state-subsidized housing and establishing penalties for employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers.

The housing provision would establish $500 to $2,000 fines and up to 90-day jail sentences for landlords who knowingly rent to illegal residents. Employers could not bid for state and municipal contracts if they knowingly hire unauthorized workers. Companies seeking public contracts would need to verify the eligibility of their employees.

The bill would also require state safety officials to report to lawmakers on implementing the federal Secure Communities program, which allows law enforcement agencies to share information about illegal immigrants.

The proposal was not favorably recommended by the Joint Judiciary Committee on April 27. Instead, the bill was given a second extension, a bad sign for the bill’s supporters.

Groups in favor of strict enforcement of immigration laws support the measure.

“If they just implemented that one part and punished employers, then we wouldn’t have illegals working here and driving here,” said Jim Rizoli, spokesman for the Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, a Framingham-based anti-illegal immigrant group. “The longer they let this bill sit there, more innocent people will die.”

The bill’s sponsors say these major provisions in the bill would prevent the type of Milford-area car crashes that killed Richard Grossi, Andrea Agosto and Matthew Denice.

Milford’s Grossi was killed in October 2009 when, according to police, Maria Leite, an unlicensed illegal immigrant, drove through a stop sign and a blinking red light before crashing into Grossi’s car.

Grossi died six weeks after the collision. Leite was deported to Portugal before she was tried in Massachusetts on a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving and unlicensed driving, according to Milford District Court records.

In February 2011, Ashland’s Agosto was killed when Manuel Zaruma, an illegal immigrant, allegedly lost control of his friend’s car and spun into the opposite lane, smashing into the car in which Agosto was a passenger.

Zaruma is charged with motor vehicle homicide by reckless driving, driving without a license and reckless driving. He is due back in court on June 11 for a pretrial hearing.

The most recent and highly publicized death last August prompted the legislative action.

Denice was killed when Nicolas Guaman, an unlicensed illegal immigrant, allegedly struck Denice’s motorcycle. Police say that Denice was dragged a quarter-mile while Guaman ignored onlookers’ pleas for him to stop.

Guaman has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while driving, motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of liquor, failing to stop for police and driving without a license. He is being held without bail.

Grossi’s sister, Maureen Laquerre, said lawmakers need to take action to prevent more accidents.

“We reached out to many lawmakers in 2009 and only a few responded. If more had responded to my plea back then, perhaps Andrea Agosto and Matt Denice may still be alive today,” Laquerre said. “Let’s not allow this bill to get delayed any longer.”

Although the tragic deaths have been a rallying point for the bill, statistics show the issue is less of an issue in Massachusetts than other states.

According to a report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, almost one in every five fatal car crashes in the United States involves an unlicensed driver — a rate double that of Massachusetts.

The report, using data from 2007 through 2009, found that 18.2 percent of fatal crashes in America involved an unlicensed driver, compared to a 9.5 percent rate in Massachusetts.

The report also found unlicensed drivers are five times more likely to be in a fatal crash than are validly licensed drivers.

The study did not indicate how many of those unlicensed drivers were illegal immigrants. A representative from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that no agency looks at how many crashes unlicensed illegal immigrants cause each day.

The Federal Immigration Reform & Enforcement Coalition claims 13 fatal accidents are caused each day in the United States by unlicensed illegal immigrants — an average of 10 due to drunken driving.

According to its website, the coalition is a “nationwide nonpartisan group of citizens committed to reasonable and effective immigration reform through direct action and public education campaigns.”

The coalition attributed those numbers to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, an opponent of illegal immigration. Calls to King’s office to verify the numbers went unanswered.

Whatever the number, sponsors say the measure would help.

“We’re never going to totally stop people from doing bad things, but we need to get stiffer penalties to reduce violations and accidents,” Peterson said.

But some Massachusetts legislators, including Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, fear unintended consequences from the proposal, including the housing provision that he said would harm immigrant children.

“The parents might be undocumented, but that shouldn’t punish the children who are here legally,” Eldridge said. “We should instead be focusing on getting immigrants affordable housing and integrating them into our economy.”

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) also opposes the bill.

“This legislation encourages racial profiling,” said Frank Soults, the group’s communications director. “It’s a targeted attempt to get rid of immigrants. The parents could be illegal, but the kids would be citizens; that would cause homelessness for U.S. citizens.”

As the bill sits in the Judiciary Committee, the debate over the controversial legislation will continue. If it’s not released before the end of the 2012 session, legislators will push for it in the next session.

“We’ll have to file the bill again next year,” Fernandes said. “We’d prefer to see it passed now, preventing some future tragedies, but delays happen sometimes. Cobbling legislators together for change is no easier at the state than the federal level.”

Richard Sobey is a reporter in the Boston University State House program.