Thread: Bill advances to punish illegal aliens' employers

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/2877966.html

Senate panel Thursday advanced legislation aimed at punishing Louisiana businesses that hire illegal aliens.

With the immigration debate roiling at the federal level, Sen. Don Cravins said clamping down with a state law would reduce the job opportunities that bring illegal aliens to the U.S.

The state Senate Labor Committee agreed, endorsing legislation putting state prosecutors in charge of policing illegal workers and establishing penalties for violations by businesses.

Current law prohibits hiring or recruiting an undocumented alien, but there’s been little enforcement.

Under a rewritten Senate Bill 650, the attorney general and parish district attorneys would gain power to issue cease-and-desist orders on businesses violating the law. The businesses would get 10 days to clean up their act or face sanctions.

If violations continue, the case would end up in court with violators facing a penalty of up to $10,000. Offenders could also face loss of their business license from the granting boards.

“Certainly none of us have a problem with letting people come in, but there is a process one should go through to get into this country,” said Cravins, D-Opelousas.

“If employers stop the practice of hiring undocumented illegal aliens, the process would slow down. That’s where the responsibility lies,” he said.

Cravins said U.S. citizens can do work now being done by the illegal aliens.

Cravins’ original legislation tackled enforcement by revoking business licenses. The reworked bill would give an offender an opportunity to comply without sanctions and bring in prosecutors to do the enforcement activity.

Sen. Art Lentini, R-Kenner, said the bill would put the attorney general and district attorneys under the gun. He wondered whether the prosecutors had agreed to take on that responsibility.

The provision would obligate prosecutors to report violations to federal officials, Lentini said. If they don’t, the prosecutors would be subject to federal charges such as malfeasance, said Lentini, who supported the bill.
Lentini said business violators could also face more substantial federal fines for such things as failure to take out withholding taxes, unemployment compensation and Social Security from worker checks.

Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe, said the Attorney General’s Office should be prepared to beef up its staff because local district attorneys will probably end up recusing themselves, particularly when cases involve a big local employer.

The state’s most potent business and labor lobbies, The Louisiana AFL-CIO and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, support the revamped measure.

AFL-CIO lobbyist Louis Reine said the legislation provides an avenue to enforce state law and preserve jobs for Louisiana residents.

LABI opposed the original bill because it did not provide businesses due process before they lost their licenses.

But LABI lobbyist Jim Patterson testified for the changed bill.

“It’s as direct and fair as it can be in terms of giving the employer an opportunity to resolve the problem,” LABI lobbyist Jim Patterson said.

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http://www.alipac.us/article1255.html

Louisiana is really beginning to feel the effects of the ILLEGAL stampede.

good to hear that someone down there has sense & is a patriot.