Thread: House adopts bill targeting illegal immigrants (RI)

House adopts bill targeting illegal immigrants

Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 - 06:55 PM

PROVIDENCE - Private employers would be forced to verify the immigration status of new workers under a bill that House lawmakers have passed to discourage illegal immigration.

The bill, adopted Tuesday, would force all private companies in Rhode Island to use a federal database called E-Verify to determine whether new hires are in the country legally. The measure passed 53-17 and now heads to the Senate.

Supporters call the database a tool for keeping illegal immigrants out of the work force. Immigration advocates say the database is error prone and sometimes identifies U.S. citizens and legal immigrants as ineligible to work.

The vote comes a month after Gov. Don Carcieri signed an executive order forcing executive branch agencies and companies doing business with the state to use the same database.

http://www.turnto10.com/northeast/jar/n ... -0023.html

Excellent!! We hope that more states do this. In fact how can we encourae ALL states to follow this wonderful example. Personally, I've had enough of illegals getting away with looting our nation.

We are getting poorer and our standard of living is decreasing all the time and yet we still have parasites that sponge off our hard earned and hard taxed earnings.

This is for NEW hires...how about the 100's that are already working?????????????????????????????????????

53-17 is a good margin. I hope the state senate now passes this proactive, common sense measure.

R.I. House adopts bill targeting illegal immigrants
By Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer | April 29, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Private employers would be required to verify the immigration status of new workers using a federal database under a bill that House lawmakers passed Tuesday to discourage illegal immigration.

The bill, adopted 53-17, would force all private companies in Rhode Island to use a system called E-Verify to determine whether new hires are in the country legally. All companies would be required to enroll by 2010. Those that refuse could face a fine up to $5,000.

Supporters call the database a tool for keeping illegal immigrants out of the work force, while immigration advocates say the database is error prone and sometimes identifies U.S. citizens and legal immigrants as ineligible to work.

Besides Rhode Island, at least 11 other states require public or private employers to use E-Verify, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Illinois has banned employers from using the database until its accuracy improves. The ban in Illinois has not been implemented because federal authorities have filed a lawsuit challenging it.

The vote comes a month after Gov. Don Carcieri signed an executive order forcing executive branch agencies and companies doing business with the state to use the same database to screen their employees. His order, which set off a fierce debate in this small state, also requires state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.

Rep. Jon Brien, the bill's sponsor, said his legislation complements Carcieri's order. He fears that business owners willing to employ illegal immigrants can pay their workers below minimum wage, increase company profits and undercut competitors who obey employment laws.

"The workforce in the state of Rhode Island should be a legal one," said Brien, a Democrat. The bill "puts everyone in the state on a level playing field."

To discourage racial discrimination, federal law bans companies from checking the immigration status of employees until after they are hired. But Rep. Arthur Handy said he feared employers eager to avoid delays may screen employees before hiring them or become wary of hiring immigrants altogether.

"We don't want to encourage people to look at somebody by the color of their skin or the accent they have or just other things that maybe make us think they might not be a citizen," Handy said.

The database allows employers to electronically verify the immigration status of new hires by comparing their name, Social Security number, birth date and other information against federal records. If the information matches, the employee is cleared for work.

Employees who are rejected have eight business days to appeal the decision and contact federal authorities before they must be fired, said Bill Wright, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Ninety-six percent of people claiming to be U.S. citizens were cleared to work by the database on the first try, according to a 2007 report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

But the database sometimes rejects people who are eligible, particularly foreign-born workers. For example, the report showed 3 percent of foreign-born workers were erroneously rejected by the E-Verify system compared with .1 percent of U.S. citizens born here. The report cautioned that the error rates cannot be fixed quickly.

During the debate, several lawmakers said they feared that workers rejected by the E-Verify system might not have enough time to correct mistakes before they are fired. Rep. Donna Walsh voted for the E-Verify proposal last year, but she changed her mind after spending two months calling Social Security officials to fix a mistake related to her benefits.

Even after visiting a Social Security office, Walsh said her problem has not been resolved.

"What are they going to do when they get flooded with all these undocumented immigrants?" she said. "I don't have a lot of confidence in the federal bureaucracy."

The legislation now heads to the Senate, which has not advanced a similar bill filed there.

www.boston.com

But the database sometimes rejects people who are eligible, particularly foreign-born workers. For example, the report showed 3 percent of foreign-born workers were erroneously rejected by the E-Verify system compared with .1 percent of U.S. citizens born here. The report cautioned that the error rates cannot be fixed quickly.

It's called collateral damage and is the price of doing business. Why should 97% of the population have to suffer for 3%??? Ridiculous!