June 16, 2007

Illegal immigrants may cost employers

Businesses would be penalized financially for undocumented workers, if they are convicted in federal court of knowingly recruiting or hiring such workers, under a bill that the Oregon House passed Friday.

The 43-2 vote sent House Bill 3514 to the Senate.

The bill would bar Oregon businesses from claiming a deduction on state tax returns for wages paid to undocumented workers. If businesses are convicted under federal law of having recruited or hired such workers, they would have to amend state tax returns to add the amounts they deducted and pay back to the state any taxes and penalties due.

As he held a blank sheet of paper, Rep. Kevin Cameron, R-Salem, said, "The headline on this story is that we are doing something about (illegal) immigration, which is baloney."

Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, said the bill may have an immediate effect in the aftermath of Tuesday's federal raid on the Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. plant in Portland. The raid rounded up 167 workers, and federal officials accused managers of the plant's staffing company of immigration-law violations.

"It was a story that made national news and made even clearer why we must take on this issue, and do it now," said Clem, the bill's floor manager.

-- Peter Wong

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pb ... 60330/1042