Thread: PA: Drywallers want level playing field

Drywallers want level playing field

Under present system, it's tough to root out illegal immigrants on construction job sites.

Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Nov 21, 2010 23:41
Strasburg

By MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT, Staff Writer

State and local police lack authority to investigate reports of illegal immigrants on job sites.

The state Department of Labor & Industry doesn't have jurisdiction either.

Responsibility for enforcing immigration laws falls almost exclusively on the federal government. State and local officials play only limited supporting roles.

Local drywallers interviewed for this series said authorities aren't doing enough to stop an influx of illegal immigrants that has pushed labor prices so low that it's nearly impossible for those who play by the rules to compete.

The drywallers, who do primarily residential but also some light commercial jobs, said illegal immigrants work locally in a number of trades. But the problem, they say, is particularly pervasive in their own.

Reggie Fisher and Vernon Stoltzfus, co-owners of Cornerstone Drywall Co., Strasburg, said they've been outbid on hundreds of houses by competitors who hire illegal immigrants willing to work for significantly lower pay and no benefits.

"We want a level playing field," Fisher said.

He and Stoltzfus recently founded Contractors Against Undocumented Service Employees/Subcontractors. They hope to raise awareness — and to see contractors who violate immigration laws punished.

"We need the laws on the books now to be enforced," said drywall contractor and CAUSE member Kevin Eberly, owner of Eberly Enterprise Inc., Landisville. "There's nowhere for us to go (to complain)."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up its efforts, with an increased workforce and budget. But in the last year, the agency charged fewer than 200 employers nationwide — none locally — with workplace immigration violations.

ICE officials said a lack of resources forces them to prioritize, with small-time local lawbreakers at the ground level of a risk-assessment ladder. Threats to national security or public safety must occupy the top rungs, they explained.

A complex web of contractors and subcontractors can make it difficult to determine who is ultimately in charge of workers on a job site. And employers also must navigate anti-discrimination laws that do not allow them to ask workers too many questions.

Legislation that would require use of an online identification verification system overwhelmingly passed the state House last summer but died when the Senate adjourned without taking action. The bills' future is uncertain.

"We have such limited recourse, besides public opinion," Fisher said. "That's all we have."

An overhaul

The federal government overhauled its approach to enforcement of immigration laws after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service no longer exists. Its authorities transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

The department's largest investigative agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has 20,000 employees in 400 offices worldwide, including Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

ICE's current annual budget is $5.7 billion, a 58 percent increase since 2005. Spokesman Mark Medvesky said much of the increase is earmarked for strengthening the southwestern border.

Worksite enforcement is just one of ICE's responsibilities. In 2009, ICE adopted a comprehensive new strategy to attack the root cause of illegal immigration: availability of jobs.

"The idea is with no jobs, people will ... return home," Medvesky said.

The worksite enforcement division targets company managers and owners, not illegal workers themselves.

The new approach — aimed at the demand, rather than supply, side of illegal immigration — allows for more efficient use of limited resources, said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge, ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations, Philadelphia.

"It's easy to go out and lock up illegal aliens," he explained. But "if you arrest 20, the employer will go out and hire another 20 tomorrow."

The worksite enforcement division focuses first on threats to national security or public safety. Reports of illegal immigrants working at a power plant, for example, warrant far more attention than others washing restaurant dishes.

Employers involved in criminal activity, such as worker exploitation, trafficking or smuggling, also rank high on the division's list of targets.

"We have to have our priorities," Kelleghan said. "... We can't get them all, but we want to get the most egregious ones."

In the last year, ICE levied its highest-ever number of civil and criminal penalties, including fines and prison time, against employers who violated immigration laws.

Since 2009, ICE has imposed $50 million in financial sanctions. In fiscal year 2010, ICE criminally charged 180 owners, employers, managers and/or supervisors, a 33 percent increase from the previous year.

ICE has not reported any arrests of Lancaster County building industry employers. Officials do not comment on investigations in progress.

But employers in nearby areas have faced big fines.

In 2009, a Philadelphia attorney received a $75,000 fine, probation and community service for his role in a scheme to employ at least 50 illegal immigrants at a chain of car washes.

And earlier this year, a couple was ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution and spend 90 days in prison for forcing two Vietnamese women to work in York-area nail salons.

ICE officials hope reports of federal prosecution will warn other employers to clean up their acts or risk a similar fate, Kelleghan said.

Frank A. Sirianni, president of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council, an association of local trade unions, said enforcement in the industry is lacking overall.

A high-profile arrest or two would effectively put other employers on notice, he said. "That would send a chill through the industry."

The investigations

ICE's worksite enforcement division investigates employers based on tips from local or state authorities, government agencies and a public hot line (1-866-DHS-2-ICE).

Random investigations wouldn't be a prudent use of resources, officials said.

ICE evaluates all tips but gets far more than it can actually investigate, Medvesky said. Agents are most likely to follow up if the caller leaves a name and details. Multiple tips about an employer might also lead to an investigation.

Many accusations prove unfounded, Kelleghan said. For example, a tipster might make incorrect assumptions based on workers' appearance or language.

"(Some tipsters) surmise that if (workers) don't speak English, they're illegal," he said. "(The workers) may have all the appropriate documentation and paperwork."

Investigating building-industry tips can be especially challenging, ICE officials said. Layers of subcontractors make it difficult to determine who ultimately hired workers on a job site.

And agents may arrive on the site only to find the crew in question has already moved on.

If ICE officials act on a tip, agents proceed like any other criminal investigators, using surveillance, undercover agents and similar tactics.

ICE also might audit a company's I-9s, or employment eligibility verification forms, which employees must complete and employers must retain (see chart). An audit can take months, depending on company size.

In the last year, ICE audited more than 2,200 companies' I-9s, a 57 percent increase from the previous year.

Once notified of an audit, employers have three days to provide their I-9s. Auditors compare information on the forms to online databases, looking for red flags.

All employees of a Pennsylvania company might present West Virginia driver's licenses, for example, or the first three digits of an employee's Social Security number might not match the state where it supposedly originated.

Employer education is an important part of ICE's mission. The ultimate goal is not to punish employers but to discourage illegal behavior, said William Riley, assistant special agent in charge, ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations, Philadelphia.

"Our goal is compliance," he said. "We'll keep coming back until you're in compliance with the law."

A fine line

Employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants can get up to a $1,100 fine per employee on the first offense. Subsequent penalties include stiffer fines and possible prison time.

Even an employer who did not knowingly hire illegal workers — but failed to fulfill his legal obligation to retain I-9s or check identifications — can be fined up to $1,000 per employee.

A fine line exists between verification and discrimination, said Jeffrey Zimskind, a business immigration attorney with Stevens & Lee.

An employer who follows the law to the letter still might have illegal workers on his payroll, through no fault of his own, he said.

If an employee's documents appear genuine, the employer must accept them, Zimskind explained. Questioning authenticity could cross the line into discrimination, subject to punishment by the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

"It's really kind of a quandary for employers," he said. "It's a very, very fine line."

An employer's good faith does mitigate potential punishment. ICE recommends that employers take extra steps to protect themselves by enrolling in an online identification verification system called E-Verify and keeping copies of employees' identification documents.

Zimskind suggests that builders in particular require all subcontractors to sign a document certifying that they have fulfilled their obligation to verify their own employees' work authorizations.

In most cases, a builder should not get involved in a subcontractor's employee verification process, he said. But the certification at least shows the builder took reasonable steps to ensure everyone on a job site has complied with the I-9 rules.

A certification — and even perfectly completed I-9s — won't protect a builder if other evidence, such as a conversation recorded as part of an undercover government investigation, shows that the certification is a subterfuge.

Zimskind said: "If there is other evidence, that piece of paper will be meaningless."

Online solution?

Widespread use of E-Verify could cut down on undocumented workers in building and other industries, proponents said.

E-Verify works by comparing information on a new employee's Form I-9 to government databases. Employees are required to provide a Social Security number.

The system will alert an employer if, for example, an employee's name does not match the Social Security number provided. A mismatch might mean the employee is not legally authorized to work (see chart).

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another Homeland Security agency, owns E-Verify, which is free of charge for employers. E-Verify can not be used on independent subcontractors, spokeswoman Anita Moore said.

More than 233,700 employers already use E-Verify, including 4,552 in Pennsylvania.

The most recent data shows that 117 Lancaster County employers use E-Verify, representing employment services, hospitality, health care, manufacturing and other sectors. Only a handful are in the building industry.

Fourteen states mandate use of E-Verify for at least some employers. Federal contractors and subcontractors also must use the program on new and existing employees.

Wohlsen Construction Co., a Lancaster-based commercial firm, began using E-Verify about a year ago, after winning a federal contract.

The program confirmed work authorization for all of Wohlsen's more than 200 employees, human resource specialist Heidi Brady said.

In June, the Pennsylvania House passed two bills that would require construction industry employers and public works contractors to use E-Verify. But the state Senate adjourned without acting on either bill, effectively tabling them until at least next year.

"We are not targeting illegal workers," prime sponsor Rep. John Galloway, a Bucks County Democrat, said. "I am targeting unscrupulous contractors that use and abuse them for profit, and to gain an unfair competitive advantage."

Galloway said he plans to reintroduce the bills, which he calls a "reasoned response" to immigration enforcement. The bills also address potential discrimination concerns, he said, by requiring all companies to use the same process on all employees.

Rep. Bryan Cutler, a Republican who represents southern Lancaster County, co-sponsored both bills.

Building and construction trades council president Sirianni said the bills would put Pennsylvanians to work, while bolstering local tax bases and workers' compensation funds depleted by companies that use illegal workers.

"They are very important pieces of legislation," he said. "This is doing the right thing. If we're going to have jobs for people, they should go to legal workers."

But Galloway's bills have drawn powerful opponents, including the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The system's accuracy — along with its cost, and potential discrimination and privacy concerns — are among the chief criticisms.

State Sen. Lloyd Smucker, a former construction company owner, said comprehensive immigration reform should come at the federal level, not as a patchwork of state and local laws. The bills represent misplaced priorities, he said.

"We should be concentrating on job creation, rather than arguing over the qualifications of individuals who are going to work every day," said Smucker, a Republican who represents central and southern Lancaster County.

Smucker added that the new Construction Workplace Misclassification Act addresses some of CAUSE's concerns.

The new law would punish employers who mislabel employees as independent subcontractors in an effort to gain competitive advantages, such as lower taxes. It does not specifically mention undocumented workers.

Lou Biacchi, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Builders Association, acknowledged that rising public frustration demands some type of action on illegal immigration.

But he said the E-Verify bills unfairly target an already-struggling industry, when illegal immigrants also work in other sectors of the economy.

"If it's necessary to pass this legislation because the feds aren't doing their job — which some people say they aren't — it should be across the board," Biacchi said.

Jack Zimmer, president of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.'s Keystone chapter, Manheim, said the vast majority of local companies don't cheat the system.

Most contractors want to comply with the law, he said, but shouldn't have to shoulder the additional responsibility of serving as a police force.

"We're frustrated that the whole immigration enforcement is woefully bad," Zimmer said. "It seems like the rascals still get away with it, and the good guys end up bearing the burden."

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/315863

Yes it is true that illegal immigrants get lots of help. I don't know who how or why but they still have to eat like the rest of us and if they are getting lower rents because of their status - well that is not fair. It is true that no US citizen can keep a roof over their head or keep their family fed once the illegals start competing with them. This is not just Mexicans creating opportunity for themselves as so many wish to believe. They are getting alot of help while roadblocks are being put in the way of citizens and this has been going on for decades. Now there is nowhere else to shove us and with so many people losing their only sustenance in the coming weeks, unemployment, things could get ugly fast.

Originally Posted by sarum

Yes it is true that illegal immigrants get lots of help. I don't know who how or why but they still have to eat like the rest of us and if they are getting lower rents because of their status - well that is not fair. It is true that no US citizen can keep a roof over their head or keep their family fed once the illegals start competing with them. This is not just Mexicans creating opportunity for themselves as so many wish to believe. They are getting alot of help while roadblocks are being put in the way of citizens and this has been going on for decades. Now there is nowhere else to shove us and with so many people losing their only sustenance in the coming weeks, unemployment, things could get ugly fast.

While I don't typically like to support conspiracy theories, I can't help but believe that lack of enforcement is part of Obama's desire for a global government.

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

Originally Posted by sarum

Yes it is true that illegal immigrants get lots of help. I don't know who how or why but they still have to eat like the rest of us and if they are getting lower rents because of their status - well that is not fair. It is true that no US citizen can keep a roof over their head or keep their family fed once the illegals start competing with them. This is not just Mexicans creating opportunity for themselves as so many wish to believe. They are getting alot of help while roadblocks are being put in the way of citizens and this has been going on for decades. Now there is nowhere else to shove us and with so many people losing their only sustenance in the coming weeks, unemployment, things could get ugly fast.

While I don't typically like to support conspiracy theories, I can't help but believe that lack of enforcement is part of Obama's desire for a global government.

I always blamed Bush (both of them) for wanting a global govt. and NAU.

Bush the first was the one who let it out of the bag that we are working towards a NWO!

Dry-wallers and all construction trades should be filing lawsuits against the US government for all their losses in actual jobs, hours, benefits and promotion positions lost, overall wage deflation and private business opportunities caused in whole or in part by illegal immigration.

And they need to file those lawsuits immediately.

State and local police lack authority to investigate reports of illegal immigrants on job sites.

The state Department of Labor & Industry doesn't have jurisdiction either.

Responsibility for enforcing immigration laws falls almost exclusively on the federal government. State and local officials play only limited supporting roles.

It's all asses and elbows with these morons, isn't it!?! My level of disgust, anger, etc gets higher and higher each passing month with this POS govt.

Yes, I believe you are right about things getting ugly- once the 99'ers run out of govt money being given to them. It will get cold, they will be out on their keesters, possibly begging for a handout in some store parking lot while seeing IA's and their 6 bambinos piling into a heated Escalade with scads of groceries they purchased on OUR dime!

Whats more, they will have to compete with all the already homeless and the tweakers in collecting scrap metal for money. Gerald Celente just might be right on this one: Americans will go homeless and hungry, the hand outs will have to end. IA's will eventually very likely have the same problem once this POS govt cuts them off too resulting in even more competition should they decide to stay here.

The difference between now and the Great Depression, is that Americans will be up against not only other cold hungry people, but also against those whose minds have been chemically blown to the point where they have no conscience or heart and would just as soon slit your kids throat for a dime.

Illegal immigrants catch on fast....very fast.

I watched a documentary a few weeks back. The lettuce and tomato pickers are not in the 18 to 40 age group within the illegals, and if they are they certainly don't stay there long. The Latinos in the fields picking crops are the people over 50....grandparents and they have younger children assisting them. The 18 to 40 group realize that taking a dry walling job, roofing job, landscaping job, tile job ultimately gets you a heck of a lot more money than field work, and it usually is not seasonal.

Couple that with the Spanish speaking legals who protect, hide and assist them, and in some cases exploit them, you have a situation that most of the time cannot be penetrated and eliminated. Look at who you have defending amnesty, Latino congressmen/women, college professors, pharmicists, (witness the recent re-elected congressman in Tucson, Az.) teachers, the list goes on and on and on.

This has to be stopped, starting with the Dream Act. "Down payment?"...even supporters know this is not the end of where they want this whole snow job to end. It is just the horrible, horrible beginning.