State of immigration
Laws passed by Tennessee Legislature get mixed reviews

By TOM HUMPHREY, tomhumphrey3@aol.com
June 24, 2007

NASHVILLE -- While the U.S. Congress debates comprehensive changes to the nation's immigration laws, the Tennessee Legislature has enacted five new laws affecting illegal immigrants that are arguably significant, though not comprehensive.
Should the recent work of state lawmakers be viewed as a good and serious-minded start?

Or as a legislative fumbling, marred by misunderstandings of the immigration system and resulting in some do-nothing laws?

That depends on who's doing the assessment.

"We made great strides," said Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, who sponsored two of the bills dealing with illegal immigrants that passed of about 45 introduced. "It was good to see Democrats coming on board."

Or, as Rep. Mike Turner, D-Nashville, sponsor of two other bills that passed, put it: "We did about as much as we could do, considering what the federal law allows us to do, except when the Senate dropped the ball."

Stephen Fotopulos, policy director and lobbyist for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, takes a starkly different view.

"They started out with 45-plus bad ideas and narrowed it down to five not-as-bad ideas after a lot of work and sweat," said Fotopulos, who characterized the 2007 session as a "learning experience" for legislators who began the year introducing "many proposals based on a misunderstanding of the immigration system."

Catching coyotes

In general, legislators say immigration bills at the state level came in response to federal failures and combined public pressure to address what constituents see as a major problem.

"The public is outraged," said Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, who teamed with Turner in successfully sponsoring a bill that imposes penalties on those who transport illegal immigrants in Tennessee.

Violators will face a fine of $1,000 for each person transported.

Burchett said he was inspired to push the bill by watching small buses and vans driven by "coyotes" deliver their customers to a southeast Nashville neighborhood. Coyotes is a slang term for those who charge illegal immigrants exorbitant fees for bringing them to job markets.

The success of the new law, Burchett said, will depend on enforcement. In hopes of providing an incentive, the bill provides that law-enforcement agencies making the arrests get to keep most of the $1,000 fines collected.

Federal law pre-empts most state efforts to directly impose penalties on illegal immigrants or their employers. The Burchett-Turner bill was deemed valid because it targets the coyotes, not the immigrants themselves.

Penalizing employers

Ketron teamed with Democratic Rep. John Hood, also of Murfreesboro, in sponsoring what is generally considered the most significant bill to pass, dealing with employment of illegal workers.

Initially, the bill would have made it a crime to hire an illegal immigrant, with stiff penalties for violators. That was dropped after the state attorney general said it ran afoul of federal law.

Instead, the amended version declares that employers of illegal immigrants can lose their business license in Tennessee. On first violation, the company's license would be suspended until the illegal worker or workers are terminated. On second and subsequent violations, the suspension is for one year.

Actually, Tennessee has had a law on the books since 1985 that provides for permanent revocation of business licenses for those hiring illegal immigrants. But that law has never been enforced because it was deemed in violation of a federal pre-emption law passed in 1986.

"This (bill) started out making people into felons and ended with a bill that improved state law," said Fotopulos. "Current law says you will lose your business license forever. This bill, as amended, says you will lose it temporarily and there's a process you go through (before the suspension is imposed)."

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development is responsible for enforcement of the new law, which will not take effect until Jan. 1. Ketron said that will give officials ample time to make employers aware of it.

The new law, of course, will have no impact on those who do not have a business license, including farmers and professionals such as doctors and lawyers who hire a staff.

'Really bad ideas'

Another bill enacted this year declares that employers cannot accept a federal "taxpayer identification number" -- provided by the Internal Revenue Service so that federal taxes can be paid, regardless of immigration status -- as identification when hiring an employee.

"It doesn't do anything," said Fotopulos, adding that the new law merely echoes a federal statute and cannot be enforced.

In contrast, he said some of the bills introduced were "really bad ideas."

The worst, he said, was a proposal by Turner that would have declared the earnings of illegal immigrants, and any property purchased with those earnings, subject to forfeiture -- much as current law allows seizure of money and property from narcotics dealers.

"That's an example of people jumping in, hoping to do something about public frustration but not being aware of unintended consequences," Fotopulos said.

Under the bill, he said an employee asking for a 15-minute break as provided by federal wage and hour laws could be told, "If you ever bring that up again, we're going to call the police, have you arrested and they're going to take away your house."

Turner successfully pushed the bill through two committees, but stopped in the Calendar Committee -- the last step before scheduling legislation for a floor vote. He said he stopped pushing the bill after some said it could be unconstitutional or violate federal law.

"It might have looked good to right-wing talk show hosts, but those people don't vote for me anyway," said Turner.

Turner said he may seek an attorney general's opinion on the bill and, if it is found valid, may pursue the measure next year.

Wait till next session

Turner, Ketron and other legislators said they expect more state efforts to curb illegal immigration at the state level next year -- especially if Congress does not act on a comprehensive national immigration measure.

A good prospect for passage next year is a measure that passed the House unanimously but stalled in the Senate Finance Committee.

Among other things, it would have blocked companies from deducting wages paid to illegal immigrants from state business taxes -- in effect, making such employers subject to higher taxes.

Turner said that is a case of the Republican-led Senate "dropping the ball" on illegal immigration bills.

Ketron, on the other hand, noted some bills that passed the Senate failed in the Democrat-controlled House, including his idea of requiring that driver's license examinations -- with some exceptions, after amendments -- be given in English only.

"By and large, state legislators everywhere are attempting to address public frustration with our broken immigration system," said Fotopulos.

"I think what is a little different about Tennessee is that we are a new destination state for immigrants. A lot of these bills are responding to cultural fears that our identity is changing."

Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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