Posted on Tue, Apr. 01, 2008

GOP STATE SENATORS: IMMIGRATION BILL OFFERS REAL, SUBSTANTIVE REFORM

The following commentary was submitted by Wichita-area Republican state Sens. Jean Schodorf, Phil Journey, Les Donovan, Mike Petersen, Susan Wagle and Carolyn McGinn:

The Kansas Senate last week unanimously passed the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Reform Act, which will crack down on illegal immigration in Kansas.

Several drafts of the bill were debated. We believe the Senate bill will toughen laws to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits through state programs, impose contempt of court sanctions on businesses that knowingly and repeatedly employ illegal immigrants, and deal harshly with those who participate in human trafficking for financial gain.

Senate Bill 458 would authorize the attorney general to impose sanctions ranging from jail time to fines against employers that engage in a pattern of practices of hiring illegal immigrants. It gives employers incentive to use E-Verify to confirm an individual's immigration status by assuring that employers that use the federal I-9 form will not be subject to a penalty if an illegal immigrant slips through the screening process. But it does not burden or penalize honest employers in any way.

In addition to cracking down on "bad actor" employers that hire illegal immigrants, the proposed legislation takes significant action against so-called "coyotes" who transport illegal immigrants into Kansas, often in some form of indentured servitude. Many times we have heard of vans of illegal immigrants being detained, only to have the driver and occupants released. In this bill, law enforcement would have the authority to arrest the person trafficking in human labor.

This bill also creates an illegal immigration enforcement division within the Attorney General's Office to take the lead in enforcement of existing state and federal immigration laws.

We understand how important strict interpretation and enforcement of laws relating to illegal immigrants are to the citizens of Kansas. We realize that this is probably one of the most important issues to our constituents. We believe that the Senate bill goes a long way to control illegal immigration and will help business stop hiring illegal immigrants.

The House also passed legislation last week. The two measures will be reconciled in a conference committee to address the differences and then be brought back to both chambers for a final vote.

We believe that Senate Bill 458 is real and substantive immigration reform for Kansas.

While immigration should be a federal issue, Congress has failed to step up and effectively deal with the problems arising from illegal immigration. This legislation will help law enforcement crack down on many of the problems associated with illegal immigration.

http://www.kansas.com/205/story/358321.html