Thread: Hiring Enforcement Likely to Get Tougher

http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 10324/1001

Hiring enforcement likely to get tougher
Louie Gilot
El Paso Times
Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Raids of employers of undocumented immigrants are often high profile, but have become so infrequent that most undocumented workers work for years without a problem.

In September, authorities stopped 12 undocumented immigrants on their way to work at a construction site inside White Sands Missile Range. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to settle allegations that its cleaning contractors hired undocumented immigrants. None of the El Paso Wal-Marts were cited for hiring undocumented workers.

But these cases are exceptions.

During the past several years, the government's efforts to confront illegal hirings have been "a relatively low priority," according to a report released in August by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

Work-site arrests were down nationwide from 2,849 in 1999 to 445 in 2003. In 1999, 417 civil notices of intent to fine employers for hiring undocumented workers were issued, not counting civil settlements; in 2003, there were just four.

An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and their American employers usually go unbothered.

Mariana Ortiz's husband, for instance, has worked without immigration papers for an El Paso construction company. Ortiz, a resident of Clint, said her husband's employer, the employer's son and two employees are the only ones with work permits. The remaining eight workers are undocumented.

"His boss knows. They all know," Ortiz said. "They know he knows the work, and there is so much need for workers that they accept him."

In El Paso, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa did not release a specific number of work-site investigations but said, "we haven't had many."

That may be due in part to employees using false documents, making it harder for employers to be held accountable.

That may be changing soon.

Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a controversial immigration bill, HR 4437, that would require the nation's 8.4 million employers to contact a nationwide verification system by phone or through the Internet to ensure that a job applicant's Social Security number matches one on file. Employers would also have to check existing employees.

The bill would also increase minimum penalties for employers to $5,000 from $250 for the first offense. The fine would rise into the tens of thousands of dollars for subsequent offenses.

President Bush had called for the stepping up of work-site enforcement during his visit to El Paso earlier this month.

"Our employers in America have an obligation not to hire illegal immigrants," Bush said. "Many of those immigrants, by the way, use forged documents. And so we've got a computer system up and running to enable employers to be able to determine whether or not the documents they're being presented are fake or not. We're also increasing the number of agents that will be working in the internal part of the country to find those who've broken the law and bring them to justice."

A pilot program using the database and involving 3,600 volunteer businesses is under way.

But neither the Border Patrol union nor the business community is satisfied with the change.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the bill leaves work-site enforcement "just as open-ended as before."

"All you have to do is match the name and the (social security) number. All you have to have is a phony ID. There is nothing in the bill about checking the legitimacy of IDs," he said.

Employers, who overall support a guest-worker program, said it is unfair to place the burden of enforcing immigration laws on them.

"The El Paso Association of Builders opposes the bill's increased paperwork requirements and stiffer penalties that would be particularly burdensome for many small or medium-sized builders. Additionally, this would be another unfunded mandate from the federal government to employers along the border," said Sandra Mead, executive vice president of the association.

The bill is expected to go through the Senate early next year.

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The going rate for an online verification check is just $20 through a service bureau. If you have 100 hires a year you can bring that down to $15. If you have an in house staff member train to do the job the cost is less than .50c a file. If the illegals start using someone elses legitimate Social Security number and their name the system will point out it's being used in more than one place at once.
I suppose that eventually it will have to go biometric but it is an effective tool as is.