Thread: Tenn.: Immigration Check Bill Delayed

Tenn.: Immigration Check Bill Delayed
Tuesday April 10, 12:29 pm ET
By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press Writer
Tennessee Senate Delays Bill on Mandatory Immigration Checks for Employers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A vote on a proposal to require employers to verify the immigration status of any new hire was delayed after extended questioning by Senate Democrats.
Under the bill, employers would have to check an electronic database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for any new employee, and documentation would have to be kept on file by the employer for two years.

The Senate stripped out what could have been up to a $1,000 fine for companies that violate the proposal, and the law would lapse after 18 months if it is not renewed next year.

"I wanted to find the simplest process we could find that wouldn't be a burden to employers," Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin and the bill's sponsor, said Monday. "My intention was to heighten awareness."

Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, said he opposed making small businesses police immigration laws.

"To make the small businesses take this on themselves -- even if it's only for 18 months -- and activity which is properly the purview of the federal government ... is to me an imposition on a small business."

Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, asked why the bill is necessary if the federal database is already available to any employer who wants to use it. Sen. John Wilder, D-Mason, added that he doesn't want to target immigrant labor.

"I couldn't run my cotton gin without Mexican help, and I've done it for a long time," said Wilder.

Johnson agreed to delay a vote on the bill after Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden, noted that the bill might be so broad as to include checking on the immigration status of neighborhood kids hired to mow the lawn.

Johnson said he only wants to require the immigration checks for full-time jobs.

The companion bill has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in the House Government Operations Committee.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070410/tn_immig ... .html?.v=1

"To make the small businesses take this on themselves -- even if it's only for 18 months -- and activity which is properly the purview of the federal government ... is to me an imposition on a small business."

What a lame excuse. Its the price of doing business. Since when is the Deomcrats worried about small business' overhead and overall welfare?

Sen. John Wilder, D-Mason, added that he doesn't want to target immigrant labor.

"I couldn't run my cotton gin without Mexican help, and I've done it for a long time," said Wilder.

A Tennessee State Senator admitting that he hires illegal aliens??? How about one of our Tennessee members calling ICE and reporting Mr. Wilder?

"I couldn't run my cotton gin without Mexican help, and I've done it for a long time," said Wilder.

Absolutely outrageous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm totally disgusted with the direction this country is headed in. How can an elected legislature get away with admitting to the hiring of criminal aliens? Where's the accountability?

I'm sorry. But I would never trust any data that is maintained by the Office of Homeland Security.

"To make the small businesses take this on themselves -- even if it's only for 18 months -- and activity which is properly the purview of the federal government ... is to me an imposition on a small business."

WHAT IMPOSITION?

Sen. John Wilder, D-Mason, added that he doesn't want to target immigrant labor.

It's not "immigrant labor", it would be targeting "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LABOR".

"I couldn't run my cotton gin without Mexican help, and I've done it for a long time," said Wilder.

Is this one of those GEICO commercials? I mean, WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT!

Johnson said he only wants to require the immigration checks for full-time jobs.

I guess there will be a whole lot of "part-timers" replacing full-time employees.

2007, 2:55PM EST text size: TT
Tenn. Senate passes immigration bill
By ERIK SCHELZIG

BW Exclusives
A Sequel to the Options Scandal?
The Latest BlackBerry Blackout
The Surfer's Guide to the Web TV Galaxy
Conoco's Own Inconvenient Truth
Five Green Fixes for Your Home
Story Tools
order a reprint
digg this
save to del.icio.us
NASHVILLE, Tenn.

The Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to require employers to verify the immigration status of all new hires.

The bill passed on a 27-2 vote after Sen. Jack Johnson, the bill's main sponsor, amended the proposal to require the immigration checks only for those workers for whom an employer is required to file a W-2 tax form.

"The bill is certainly not intended for someone who hires the boy down the street to mow their yard or the teenage girl next door to baby-sit," said Johnson, R-Franklin.

Under the bill, employers would have to check an electronic database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for any new employee, and documentation would have to be kept on file by the employer for two years.

The Senate earlier stripped out what could have been up to a $1,000 fine for companies that violate the proposed requirement.

"I don't want to make criminals out of employers, I want to give them the tools to do the right thing," said Johnson. "It's already illegal to hire someone who is not in the country legally."

Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, said he opposed the bill because of the burden it puts on small businesses.

"Just because the federal government chooses to harass and make life hard on small business in Tennessee doesn't mean that state government ought to pile firewood on the fire and make it harder," said Henry.

The law would lapse after 18 months if it is not renewed next year.

Access to the federal database does not cost businesses anything, Johnson said.

The companion bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Government Operations Committee on Wednesday.

Johnson said his bill takes aim at the causes of illegal immigration.

"It seems inconsistent to me that we are going to deal with the symptoms of the problem, but not attempt to deal with the roots of the problem," he said. "And that is employment."

Johnson said the measure would make it easier to prosecute employers of illegal immigrants. Employers could no longer be able say they didn't know that an employee's documentation was falsified if they check with the federal database.

"We have so much fraudulent documentation that's out there," he said.

Johnson encouraged businesses to embrace his proposal.

"I think there are a lot of employers out there that are losing sleep at night because they might have inadvertently hired an illegal immigrant," he said.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financia ... JRMVO0.htm