Senate committee approves bill to penalize companies that hire illegal immigrants

June 16, 2011
By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune

A Louisiana Senate committee Thursday gave unanimous approval to a rewritten House bill designed to penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants.

The Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations softened the penalties contained in House Bill 646 by Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, then sent it to the Senate floor for more debate. If it passes there, it must return to the House for approval of Senate's changes.

"It is a little bit weaker, but I'd rather have it weak than not have it at all," Talbot said after the panel amended his bill. "You've got to crawl before you walk."

Talbot's bill gives businesses two options to check the legal status of workers: the federal "E-Verify" system or maintaining photo identification of workers.

If the photo ID is kept on file, one other document must accompany it, Talbot said, including a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, a certificate of citizenship, an alien registration card or a federal work permit.

The bill places the enforcement function in the hands of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, which can inform state or local licensing boards to suspend the permit of a business if illegal immigrants are found working for it.

"We want industry to pay attention," said Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, a member of the panel. However, he said forcing a violator to lose a license for six months for a repeat offense may be too harsh.

Talbot's original bill called for a violator to have its permits and licenses revoked -- not suspended -- for a third violation.

As the bill was revised by the committee, it calls for a business to be fined not more than $250 "for each alien employed, hired, recruited or referred" in violation of the law.

A second offense calls for a $500 fine for each illegal immigrant employed and suspension of the business's permits for not more than 10 days. When it left the House, it called for a suspension for not less than 10 days.

For a third and later violations, the penalties would be a fine not to exceed $1,000 per illegal employed and suspension of a permit to operate for not less than 30 days nor more than six months.

When Talbot's bill left the House, it provided for a loss of a permit or license for not less than six months.

Talbot said the state AFL-CIO and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the state's largest business lobby, were neutral on the measure.

"We are just adding to the penalties," Talbot told the panel. "If you are caught hiring illegal aliens, you could lose a business license."

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