Thread: Idaho Lawmakers Approve Immigration Bill

Before anyone gets too excited, this bill is a joke on the taxpayers. It will do NOTHING to stop employers from hiring illegal aliens in Idaho. It's meant to pacify the voters because this same State Affairs Committee voted against Senator Jorgenson's bill S1303 that would have actually done something about this problem.

Lawmakers approve immigration bill
- The Associated Press
Published: 03/12/10


BOISE, Idaho — Idaho lawmakers concerned about illegal immigration are going after people who create fake identification documents.

The measure approved 6-1 by the Senate State Affairs committee Friday would make creating false documents a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The bill also gives employers who accept fake identification a lighter punishment. They'd get a misdemeanor charge and up to two years in county jail. Prosecutors would have to prove employers knew the documents weren't authentic.

A lobbyist for the Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform, which represents the dairy and construction industries, drafted the measure.

The coalition brought the bill forth as an alternative to tougher legislation from Hayden Republican Sen. Mike Jorgenson, who wanted to revoke the business licenses of wayward employers.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/03/1 ... ation.html

Immigration bill clears Idaho Senate committee
Betsy Z. Russell The Spokesman-Review


The Senate State Affairs Committee hears from attorney Maria Andrade midway through a long hearing Friday on SB 1271, the last remaining immigration bill this session, which drew extensive opposition. The committee sent the bill to the Senate’s 14th Order for amendment.

BOISE - Legislation aimed at fighting employment of undocumented immigrants cleared an Idaho Senate committee on Friday, but only after a two-hour hearing that drew extensive testimony overwhelmingly opposed to the bill.

Two earlier, more sweeping measures aimed at penalizing employers both died in committee earlier.

The bill, SB 1271 from Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, sets new penalties for using false documents for employment. Among its provisions: Anyone falsifying documents for employment could face 14 years in prison.

Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee voted to amend the bill; though any senator can offer an amendment, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said he wanted to add an amendment to add an “e-Verify safe harbor,â€

Despite overwhelming testimony against, Senate panel passes immigration bill


The Senate State Affairs Committee has voted 6-1 to send SB 1271, the last remaining immigration bill this session, to the Senate’s 14th Order for amendment, after a two-hour hearing that drew extensive testimony overwhelmingly opposed to the bill. Among its provisions: Anyone falsifying documents for employment could be sent to prison for 14 years.

Numerous people who testified said the immigration legislation has stirred up anti-Hispanic sentiment in their communities. Raquel Reyes of the Community Council of Idaho, formerly the Idaho Migrant Council, said, “This bill only adds fuel to the flame of those who would have an enforcement-only solution.. .. Both federal and state laws already exist to go after individuals using forged documents to go after employment.â€

Idaho lawmakers target false immigration documents
Friday, March 12, 2010 4:52 pm | Updated: 7:01 pm, Fri Mar 12, 2010.

By SIMMI AUJLA

After beating back two other immigration reform efforts, Idaho lawmakers are now focusing on changes that would toughen penalties for those involved in falsifying employment documents.

A bill approved Friday by the Senate State Affairs Committee boosts fines and jail time for falsifying employment documents, raising the maximum prison time to 14 years.

It also calls for slightly tougher sanctions for employers who knowingly hire workers with phony papers, making it a two-year misdemeanor.

Jeremy Chou, a lobbyist for the Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform, said the bill appropriately targets those who sell false documents to immigrants desperate to find jobs.

"These guys out there are creating these documents that are helping to facilitate the main problem," he said.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, could be the Legislature's last chance to address an issue that vexes voters, employers and immigration reformers in a year when many lawmakers are facing re-election.

Major industries that rely on unskilled labor, such as dairy and construction, worked with McGee to develop an alternative to two other measures considered more severe for employers. Those bills failed to gain momentum.

Reps. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, and Phil Hart, R-Athol, sought to suspend business licenses for up to a year for employers caught hiring illegal workers.

Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden, lobbied for more stringent reforms. His bill, modeled after a 2008 Arizona law, would have required that businesses use the federal background check system to validate workers and revoked the licenses of businesses that flouted the law.

Industry leaders argued those proposals were too burdensome on employers who rely on seasonal and migrant labor, and both bills failed to clear committees.

But McGee's bill also has detractors who argue it doesn't put enough responsibility on employers for reversing immigration hiring abuses. They cite a provision that clears any employer who in good faith didn't know a worker was illegal. It also includes exemptions for businesses who hire day laborers or workers hired by independent contractors.

"It does not punish an employer who has every signal in the world that somebody is presenting to them a false document," said Maria Andrade, a Boise immigration lawyer. "The bill was drafted to make it nearly impossible to convict an employer for violating the law."

Friday, March 12, 2010 4:52 pm Updated: 7:01 pm.


http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/s ... 5df86.html