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McCaskill, House immigration panel contemplate employer sanctions
GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As experts testified Thursday before a Missouri House committee charged with reshaping the state's immigration policy, State Auditor Claire McCaskill again criticized Republican Sen. Jim Talent over immigration.

McCaskill, a Democrat who is running for Talent's U.S. Senate seat, spoke outside the federal courthouse in Kansas City about her plans to increase sanctions against employers who exploit illegal immigrant labor. She accused Talent of shying away from penalizing businesses, a charge his campaign vehemently denied.

A few miles away at Penn Valley Community College, the House Special Committee on Immigration Reform had a hearing on the issue Thursday in front of a large audience.

"As our work force has changed, our members have become more comfortable working with immigrants," testified Steve Begshaw, vice president of Missouri governmental affairs for the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City. "They just don't want to get in trouble."

Begshaw said his industry's piecemeal, fluid structure complicates the ability of employers to determine workers' legal status. In the Kansas City area, most general contractors are small companies that might hire up to 40 subcontractors to build one single-family home, he said. Subcontractors - anyone from electricians to roofing crews - come to the job site with their own labor force, whose status they presumably check.

"How do you know who was on the framing crew today and who'll be on the plumbing crew tomorrow?" Begshaw asked. "It just becomes so unmanageable if you make the home builder the policeman for the whole industry. The person who does the hiring should be responsible."

Lawmakers in Missouri and across the country are considering strengthening penalties against companies that hire illegal immigrants by denying them state contracts or licenses. But how to enforce such laws is another question, legislators said.

"A lot of the subcontractors may be hiring illegals," said Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City. "If the general contractors don't start doing some due diligence, it's going to fall on their shoulders."

Employer sanctions are largely a federal matter, established through the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Labor.

But the House committee could propose new state sanctions in its recommendations to House Speaker Rod Jetton, to be submitted early next year.

McCaskill said Thursday the solution rests at the federal level, where she proposed increasing fines and prison sentences for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"What this administration has done, with the assistance of Sen. Talent and his Republican colleagues, is they've said we're going to create this work force and we're going to let you do it illegally," McCaskill said. "Let's get this out on the table with stopping illegal employment."

She accused Talent of being too cozy with large corporate farming interests, having received thousands of dollars from companies like Tyson Foods and ConAgra, to support strong action against employers.

Talent's staff said McCaskill was envious because Tyson denied her campaign's request for contributions.

"Sen. Talent has supported legislation in the Senate which would require companies that hire illegal immigrants to pay civil penalties," said Talent spokesman Rich Chrismer. "He believes we can solve many of these problems by passing a comprehensive border security bill and he's working in Washington to get that done."