Thread: Immigration issue key to business future

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Immigration issue key to business future


By Amy Fletcher
The Denver Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2006


Most everyone agrees that U.S. immigration policy is broken, but there's a huge divide over how to fix it.

Millions of immigrants are in the country illegally, employers are having trouble hiring the qualified workers they need from other countries, and some lawmakers are concerned about the economic toll illegal immigrants impose on the state's education and health care systems.

Those are just a few of the problems. But state and federal lawmakers are proposing dozens of fixes, from clamping down on the country's borders to requiring employers to play a bigger role in verifying workers' legal status.

"There is widespread agreement we have a problem," said Rep. Paul Weissman, D-Louisville, chairman of a state legislative committee that considered 10 proposed laws on immigration this week. "The disagreement is on the solutions."

Colorado lawmakers debated 10 Republican measures Feb. 21 for more than seven hours, hearing sometimes emotional testimony from private citizens, employer groups, lawyers, activists and employees on both sides of the proposals.

While all but three bills were killed, the issue is likely to resurface later this session and is almost certain to be a major issue in election campaigns later this year. A group called Defend Colorado Now is gathering signatures for a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the Colorado constitution to deny non-emergency medical and other services to illegal immigrants.

"The public is frustrated, as we are, by the federal government's inability or unwillingness to fix this problem," said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver. "So people are turning, understandably, to other levels of government."

The debate has big implications for employers and the economy. Immigrant workers -- legal and otherwise -- play an important role in many Colorado industries, including tourism, retail, construction and technology. One in seven U.S. workers is an immigrant, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which is based in Denver.

Issue moves to statehouses
Immigration policy is primarily the purview of Congress, but the issue is increasingly being debated at the state level.

In the first half of 2005, state legislators nationwide considered nearly 300 immigrant and refugee bills on many issues, including benefits, education, employment, human trafficking, identification and driver's licenses, and law enforcement. Thirty-six of those bills became law, according to the NCSL.

So far this year, 340 immigration bills have been introduced in 42 states, NCSL said.

The debate has created some strange bedfellows, with some labor groups and large companies urging Congress to make it easier for immigrants to become legal workers here. That would add to unions' rolls, while helping immigrants avoid exploitation and deportation. And employers could have easier access to foreign workers to fill open positions.

Angelo Amador of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said immigrants -- both those in the country legally and those who are undocumented -- are essential for addressing labor shortages, given the expanding economy and the impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers.

"Without immigration, our ability to fill future jobs is in jeopardy," Amador said at a Denver immigration conference in December. "We need the workers."

The business community is bristling at some state and federal proposals, particularly those that would add administrative and legal burdens to employers.

Criminal liability is controversial
One controversial proposal would have held companies liable for crimes committed by illegal aliens they employ, even if the crime was committed off-duty. Jeff Weist of the Colorado Civil Justice League, a tort reform group, called House Bill 1082 "one of the most anti-business bills introduced this session."

House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, sponsored the bill.

Under Stengel's proposal, it's possible the Cherry Cricket restaurant could have been sued for damages by the family of the police officer, Donald Young, who allegedly was killed by restaurant employee Raul Garcia-Gomez, an illegal immigrant. Garcia-Gomez worked with false documents at the Cherry Cricket, which Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper co-owns.

Hickenlooper's restaurants are operated by a trust set up when he became mayor.

The proposal originally applied to all employers, but Stengel wanted to amend it to affect only day-labor firms.

"It's not a bill that's intended to punish an employer," Stengel said, adding the goal was to discourage day-labor groups from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. "If they know they are going to be held liable, maybe they'll think twice" before hiring illegal workers.

But employer groups, including the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry (CACI), said the bill went too far. CACI said none of its members knowingly employs workers who are in the country illegally, but sometimes they're fooled by paperwork that appears legitimate.

"It would unfairly burden every Colorado business," said Chuck Berry, president and CEO of CACI. "It will create a slippery slope, a bad precedent."

The House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee killed the bill Feb. 21, along with six other proposals. Lawmakers moved forward two bills, neither of which was lobbied by the business community because they didn't appear to affect employers.

One bill affects bail bondsmen; the other directs the state to study whether Colorado is complying with a law that specifies which identification documents public agencies can accept before issuing licenses or permits.

While lawmakers killed bills opposed by business, the hearing highlighted legislators' desire to hold employers accountable when it comes to illegal immigration.

"I'm going to go after employers on this issue because they are the main attractive force to people crossing across the border," said Rep. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs. He sponsored several measures that would have increased the responsibility of local police officers, restaurants and other employers to either verify workers' legal status or enforce federal law.

Those proposals died, but there seems to be interest among lawmakers to require employers to step up verification of workers' documents, as well as imposing stiffer penalties for businesses that "knowingly" employ illegal immigrants.

Federal system suggested
Jody Randall, who works for a Colorado construction company, said it's unfair to hold employers accountable for issues related to a worker's legal status -- a goal of several lawmakers' proposals -- without developing a federal system that offers immediate results. She said employers can submit the required documents only to find out later they aren't valid.

"If you don't put a system in place, you can't hold us accountable," she said. "It should be across the board and mandatory and immediate."

Other immigration proposals would seek to lessen the financial impact of illegal workers by limiting access to benefits. Earlier this month, lawmakers killed a proposal by Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, that would have barred illegal immigrants from workers' compensation benefits. Democrats said the bill could have encouraged businesses to hire illegal immigrants because they wouldn't have to pay for workers' comp.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) hasn't taken a position on any of the Colorado immigration proposals, but the group is polling its members on the issue and may enter the debate later this session.

Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., an arm of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber normally doesn't take positions on federal legislation, but the "issue is big enough and important enough I suspect we are going to find ourselves there."

Clark said ski areas, hotels and technology companies are among the Colorado businesses having trouble finding the workers they need.

"It's an across-the-board challenge," he said. "And until we figure out a way to keep our doors open ... we are just suffering from bad public policy."

© 2006 Denver Business Journal

Clark said ski areas, hotels and technology companies are among the Colorado businesses having trouble finding the workers they need.

I don't know about ski resorts and how greedy they are but I can tell you that any golf course who expects someone to pay fifty bucks to play a round of golf might want to start planning on paying people a decent wage to walk around in the sun all day tending to the grounds. Hotels are another area that people aren't stupid about. If they can charge an average of seventy bucks a night for motorists to have a place to sleep and take a shower, can't the people who clean up the rooms expect a reasonable wage? They seem to think they can have it both ways--cheap labor and high costs. I think it isn't going to work that way much longer.

Originally Posted by Virginiamama

employers are having trouble hiring the qualified workers they need from other countries,

Angelo Amador of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said immigrants -- both those in the country legally and those who are undocumented -- are essential for addressing labor shortages

"qualified worker" Willing to work for $5.25 an hour.

"labor shortage" A shortage of workers willing to work for $5.25 an hour.