Thread: KS: Five immigration bills on the slate

Five immigration bills on the slate
Feb 24, 2008

House and Senate panels will hear testimony this week on the proposals, which address various aspects of immigration and focus mainly on jobs.
BY JEANNINE KORANDA

Eagle Topeka bureau

TOPEKA - Almost halfway through the session, lawmakers in both chambers will begin hearing testimony on what many called a top priority: illegal immigration.

Both the House and Senate Federal and State Affairs committees are set to hear testimony on five proposals targeting various aspects of the issue this week.

Some lawmakers could be leery of voting on illegal-immigration reform in an election year, while some are optimistic.

This is the fifth year Democrats have presented a proposal that would strengthen penalties against businesses caught knowingly hiring illegal workers.

And with Republicans making similar suggestions, some on the left are hopeful the full House will vote on the idea.

On Monday, the discussion starts with a presentation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the federal E-Verify program, which checks people's eligibility to work in the country.

Four of the five bills lawmakers will discuss focus on what Rep. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, has called "the magnet that brought people here," namely jobs.

Other ideas include requiring law enforcement to check the citizenship or immigration status of everyone they detain and making sure illegal immigrants can't receive public benefits, register to vote or cast a ballot.

Mah's measure, House Bill 2680, is one of four that include components requiring businesses to make sure new employees are eligible to work in the country using a program such as E-Verify.

Her proposal would use a range of punishment; at its strictest, businesses could lose their licenses if they were caught knowingly hiring illegal workers.

The measure also seeks to ensure businesses aren't sidestepping the laws by misclassifying workers as contract labor.

Measures by Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, Sen. Peggy Palmer, R-Augusta, and a third committee bill all include similar business components.

That means all four face some opposition from business groups. About 25 groups including several chambers of commerce, the Kansas Soybean Commission and the Kansas Association of Realtors have come out against the business requirements.

In a letter to sent to lawmakers, they argued that while they don't endorse illegal immigration, "our members cannot accept bearing the brunt of a problem we did not create."

Their opposition and this being an election year has Palmer worried that her measure, Senate Bill 458, won't go to the Senate floor for a vote.

"I have a feeling that's not going to happen," she said.

In addition to the employment aspect, Palmer's legislation prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving state services and benefits and requires law enforcement to check people's citizenship and immigration status.

It encourages cooperation between local and federal law enforcement and calls for people to sign an affidavit swearing they are U.S. citizens in order to get driver's licenses.

Palmer and Landwehr have said they're worried that Kansas will become a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants as surrounding states enact stricter illegal-immigration laws.

Landwehr's measure, House Bill 2836, is the most expansive proposal, touching on everything Palmer's does plus making it illegal to register illegal immigrants to vote or for them to cast a ballot.

The issue shouldn't hinge on whether or not it is an election year, she said.

"It shouldn't be about politics it should be about good public policy," Landwehr pointed out.

She was optimistic that lawmakers would get a chance to vote on some immigration reform.

The third and fourth House bills are narrowly tailored. One, House Bill 2921, sponsored by the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, requires employee eligibility verification.

The fifth bill, House Bill 2370, brought by Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, requires law enforcement to check on whether people are in the country legally.

One piece of information lawmakers won't have when they start their discussions next week are numbers from the state. Rep. Nile Dillmore, D-Wichita, recently asked the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit to examine what illegal immigration was costing the state and how the proposed legislation would affect the situation.

The study has not been approved yet; an audit could take 15 to 20 weeks, said Leo Hafner, deputy legislative post auditor. Most audits take an average of eight to 12 weeks.

Dillmore thought lawmakers should proceed with some of the debate without the report.

"Some of the more obvious steps can be taken, especially in terms of strengthening our sanctions against employers that hire illegal aliens," he said.

http://www.kansas.com/news/legislature/ ... 20695.html

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Originally Posted by jean

In a letter to sent to lawmakers, they argued that while they don't endorse illegal immigration, "our members cannot accept bearing the brunt of a problem we did not create."

Oh please, they are almost 100% responsible!! And as for "bearing the brunt" of the problem, running a new employees name through the e-verify system will not cost them any more time and money. They just want to keep their neo-slave labor.

If anyone wants to tell them what they think of their business practices, here is the contact info for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce:
Phone: 785-357-6321
E-mail: info@kansaschamber.org.