Editorial: GOP should back Carr's E-Verify proposal

8:41 PM, Apr. 16, 2011 |

Written by The Daily News Journal

Of all the legislation floating around to curb illegal immigration in Tennessee, state Rep. Joe Carr's E-Verify bill makes the most sense because it strikes at the heart of the problem.

If illegal immigrants couldn't find work, they wouldn't move to Tennessee.

But Carr is running into resistance from the business lobby and some from Gov. Bill Haslam's administration, with both groups saying they support the concept of E-Verify but not the structure of the bill. We trust they are sincere.

The E-Verify program is an electronic service provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that verifies citizenship status of job hires. It's one of three bills Carr is pushing to rein in illegal immigration and would replace existing law that prohibits any person from knowingly hiring an illegal alien by requiring employers to enroll and maintain active participation in the E-Verify program by Oct. 1, 2011.

Carr and the governor sparred a little bit last week after the Lascassas Republican expressed frustration to The Daily News Journal about his view that Haslam was opposed to his bill and might be trying to kill it.

They met the next day to work things out and Carr's three bills passed out of the House State & Local Government Committee — with help from the governor's staff, after Haslam said he was only trying to make sure "we get this right."

Still, the business lobby contends that Carr's E-Verify bill would be a burden for small businesses and that it would take effect in October even though many business owners don't know how the program works. They also balk at a $1,000 civil penalty and proposed license suspensions for companies that get caught violating the law.

Carr's bill comes with an annual price tag of $292,102 and calls for hiring a full-time state employee in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development who would help small companies make sure they are meeting E-Verify requirements. It would also require three inspectors be hired to conduct investigations.

That's a fairly small price to pay to make sure Tennessee's employers are following the rules against hiring illegal immigrants. Existing rules apparently aren't working because of lax enforcement.

If nothing else, the legislation could be amended to give businesses a year to get accustomed to the E-Verify system and then put enforcement into place.

Otherwise, the arguments of Gov. Haslam and the business lobby ring hollow.

Carr's other two bills target illegal immigrants by prohibiting them from receiving any government entitlements and by giving local law enforcement authority to question people about their citizenship status, the second of which has largely been a federal responsibility and could raise some constitutional questions.

But it seems that road blocks are thrown up when it comes to penalizing the business sector — those who are responsible for hiring illegal immigrants.

The Republican Party has a lot riding on this legislation, and if it doesn't find some common ground for a sensible proposal, much of its talk comes across as hypocritical.

Carr believes he has a mandate from more than 75 percent of Tennesseans and businesses to cut down on illegal immigration. We wouldn't argue with that. Now all he has to do is persuade those within the Republican Party that his E-Verify bill will do the trick.

Opinions in this space reflect a consensus of the discussion by The Daily News Journal Editorial Board. The Board includes Michelle Russell, acting general manager; Jimmy Hart, executive editor; Sam Stockard, senior writer; Greg Pogue, senior columnist; Taylor Loyal, Smyrna A.M. editor; Sandee Suitt, Lifestyles editor, and Tom McBrayer, community member.

http://www.dnj.com/article/20110417/OPINION01/104170316