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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Connecticut: Immigrant laws may set new hiring practices

    http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbc ... 002/NEWS01

    Immigrant laws may set new hiring practices
    By ADAM BOWLES
    Norwich Bulletin

    HARTFORD -- For now, it's fairly easy for illegal immigrants to produce fake Social Security cards and driver's licenses in order to land a job.

    But Connecticut businesses, like others nationwide, are bracing for changes that likely would lead to stricter enforcement of hiring practices.

    Fines of thousands of dollars and even imprisonment are the potential penalties for violators.

    The hot topic of immigration and compliance was the focus of a seminar Friday hosted by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and attended by about 35 businesses.

    The businesses ranged from large corporations, such as Kaman Aerospace, to nurseries and greenhouses.

    "People are not even well aware of current law and are very much unaware of the proposals," association economist Peter Gioia said, adding many businesses fear they are not in compliance.

    Alice DeTora, a partner in Robinson and Cole, a law firm based in Hartford with one of its offices in New London, said many businesses know if they suddenly cracked down on illegal immigrants they would collapse overnight.

    Agricultural-based businesses in Eastern Connecticut and the rest of the state would be especially vulnerable.

    Instead, she urged audience members to begin changing their hiring habits for the good starting now, especially in a climate that is heating up regarding undocumented workers.

    That includes properly filling out and recording a federal I-9 form, or employee eligibility verification record, that asks a job candidate whether he or she is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident or an alien authorized to work. The worker typically must produce a Social Security card and driver's license.

    An employer can get into trouble for discrimination based on citizenship if it goes beyond these procedures to determine whether someone is legal.

    Unless a business is large and targeted for inspections, most audits are triggered by complaints from workers unhappy with illegal co-workers.

    Roberta Hubbard, human resources and safety manager at Rand-Whitney, a paper mill in Montville, was one of the participants.

    Hubbard said she hasn't seen many immigrant workers at the containerboard producer, but wouldn't be surprised if that changes, considering the region's two casinos continue to draw immigrants to the area.

    Gioia said legal immigration is crucial to the state, which from now until 2014, will need 420,000 replacement jobs, especially as the pace of Baby Boomer retirements quicken.

    In the last 12 months, 40 percent of employers who had job openings in the state were unable to fill the positions, he said.

    Without immigrants, the state would be losing population, and its workforce would suffer, he said. The state needs to attract skilled, educated immigrants, Gioia said.

    "If we don't do that, we are going to hit the wall very, very quickly ... We are running out of people," he said.

    Border states pushing Washington for stricter immigration laws don't have the same employer needs as the state and the rest of New England, which would benefit from guest-worker or amnesty programs, he said.

    Reach Adam Bowles at 425-4255 or abowles@ norwichbulletin.com
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    UB
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    Border states pushing Washington for stricter immigration laws don't have the same employer needs as the state and the rest of New England, which would benefit from guest-worker or amnesty programs, he said.
    Will someone tell this joker that American workers do not benefit from amnesty programs. His state may need highly educated and well qualified LEGAL immigrants, but that is not what he is going to get from amnesty.

    UB
    If you ain't mad, you ain't payin' attention = Terry Anderson.

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