Thread: Flash Fire Indiana! Let's get the illegals on the run!

Ah, ok. Thanks

After sending my emails i received a response from Indiana Rep trent Haaften I thought i should post here.
Thank you for emailing me concerning SB 335. Illegal Immigration and its impact on the State of Indiana is an important issue our state is facing, and all states are bound to face sooner of later. From your email it is apparent you are in support of combating this problem by holding employers accountable for providing jobs to those in our country illegally.

However, I do have concerns you have been misled by SB 335 and what the language of the bill actually allows for. In reading the bill I found it contains huge loopholes for Indiana businesses and avoiding the responsibility of verifying the legal status of their employees.

As chairman of the House Public Policy Committee I decided to give SB 335 a hearing and in doing so, made a point of studying the language of the bill. If you read it I am sure you will come to the same conclusion I did: Sen. Mike Delph and the Indiana Senate have not been forthcoming in the actual contents of the bill.

The entire Senate bill can be accessed at the following:

http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/200 ... 335.2.html

As you can see, a huge loophole in the Senate bill exists in the definition of "employee." SB 335 as it exists now defines "employee" as the following:


Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "employee" means an individual who:
(1) works or is hired to work for at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) hours during a twelve (12) month period;
(2) performs services for an employer; and
(3) is an individual from whom the employer is required to withhold wages under IC 6-3-4-8 or is an employee described in IC 6-3-4-8(l).

Under the Senate version of the bill, an employer only has to verify the legal status of a person they are going to employ for 1,500 hours in a year. Think about this. How many illegals are seasonal workers? How many illegals work for 2 or 3 months in one spot and move on to another employer? Under the Senate version of this legislation an employer would have absolutely no duty to verify the legal status of any of these workers!

How effective would this be? An illegal could be hired to work 60 hours a week for the summer months and there is no requirement for the employer to verify their status. An employer could hire 100 workers a month, let them go after two months and they would face no repercussions for hiring illegals over our own citizens! How many illegals apply for employment for 1,500 hours in a year? Do the math and you can see the Senate version of this legislation creates a loophole that will do very little in terms of requiring employers to help in combating illegal immigration. We have heard much about the application of the "rule of law." In committee this week, I directly asked Sen. Delph if SB 335 applied the "rule of law" uniformly to employers and he admitted it did not.

I can tell you I was disappointed when I sat down and read the language of SB 335 If SB 335, as it is written now, were to become law, many citizens would be disappointed in learning how just about every employer of illegal aliens could still skirt the law.

SB 335 was heard in my committee on February 13th. I held the bill until this Monday, February 18th so amendments could be prepared to close the loopholes. Rep. Vern Tincher and I will be offering amendments to the Senate bill which would require employers to verify the legal status of all new hires. By closing these loopholes, we will make sure the bill has teeth and will be effective in curbing and eliminating the hiring of illegal aliens. We will see that every loophole is closed.

I hope you take the time to actually read the language of the bill the Senate passed over to the House. If you do you may have some of the same questions that I had. Why did Sen Delph and the Indiana Senate not make the public aware of these loopholes?

Once again, thank you for contacting me about SB 335. I do find it ironic that I have constantly received emails warning me that Indiana House Democrats had better not "water" down this bill. If you take the time to read the bill, you will see Indiana House Democrats are actually attempting to keep the bill from drowning in the loopholes the bill currently contains.

Trent Van Haaften
State Representative
District 76
Fr

Originally Posted by SoFlaPatriot

After sending my emails i received a response from Indiana Rep trent Haaften I thought i should post here.
Thank you for emailing me concerning SB 335. Illegal Immigration and its impact on the State of Indiana is an important issue our state is facing, and all states are bound to face sooner of later. From your email it is apparent you are in support of combating this problem by holding employers accountable for providing jobs to those in our country illegally.

However, I do have concerns you have been misled by SB 335 and what the language of the bill actually allows for. In reading the bill I found it contains huge loopholes for Indiana businesses and avoiding the responsibility of verifying the legal status of their employees.

As chairman of the House Public Policy Committee I decided to give SB 335 a hearing and in doing so, made a point of studying the language of the bill. If you read it I am sure you will come to the same conclusion I did: Sen. Mike Delph and the Indiana Senate have not been forthcoming in the actual contents of the bill.

The entire Senate bill can be accessed at the following:

http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/200 ... 335.2.html

As you can see, a huge loophole in the Senate bill exists in the definition of "employee." SB 335 as it exists now defines "employee" as the following:


Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "employee" means an individual who:
(1) works or is hired to work for at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) hours during a twelve (12) month period;
(2) performs services for an employer; and
(3) is an individual from whom the employer is required to withhold wages under IC 6-3-4-8 or is an employee described in IC 6-3-4-8(l).

Under the Senate version of the bill, an employer only has to verify the legal status of a person they are going to employ for 1,500 hours in a year. Think about this. How many illegals are seasonal workers? How many illegals work for 2 or 3 months in one spot and move on to another employer? Under the Senate version of this legislation an employer would have absolutely no duty to verify the legal status of any of these workers!

How effective would this be? An illegal could be hired to work 60 hours a week for the summer months and there is no requirement for the employer to verify their status. An employer could hire 100 workers a month, let them go after two months and they would face no repercussions for hiring illegals over our own citizens! How many illegals apply for employment for 1,500 hours in a year? Do the math and you can see the Senate version of this legislation creates a loophole that will do very little in terms of requiring employers to help in combating illegal immigration. We have heard much about the application of the "rule of law." In committee this week, I directly asked Sen. Delph if SB 335 applied the "rule of law" uniformly to employers and he admitted it did not.

I can tell you I was disappointed when I sat down and read the language of SB 335 If SB 335, as it is written now, were to become law, many citizens would be disappointed in learning how just about every employer of illegal aliens could still skirt the law.

SB 335 was heard in my committee on February 13th. I held the bill until this Monday, February 18th so amendments could be prepared to close the loopholes. Rep. Vern Tincher and I will be offering amendments to the Senate bill which would require employers to verify the legal status of all new hires. By closing these loopholes, we will make sure the bill has teeth and will be effective in curbing and eliminating the hiring of illegal aliens. We will see that every loophole is closed.

I hope you take the time to actually read the language of the bill the Senate passed over to the House. If you do you may have some of the same questions that I had. Why did Sen Delph and the Indiana Senate not make the public aware of these loopholes?

Once again, thank you for contacting me about SB 335. I do find it ironic that I have constantly received emails warning me that Indiana House Democrats had better not "water" down this bill. If you take the time to read the bill, you will see Indiana House Democrats are actually attempting to keep the bill from drowning in the loopholes the bill currently contains.

Trent Van Haaften
State Representative
District 76
Fr

I have been told by a number of people that Rep Van Haaften is on our side. I will admit, I have been busy and did not take the time to read the bill. Now I must decide, is a flimsy bill better than no bill. I hope the house truly fixes these problems.

I emailed and called the list.
Rep Summers' mail box is full and no attendent comes on the line to take message.
The 800 number for Rep Bell is answered by a sweet old guy with caller ID who sort of indicated that since I live in Florida, why should Bell listen to me...I gave him the "I am a citizen of the United States and my money gets spent in Indiana!" speech.
Velma, a really sweet voiced assistant answers the phone in Rep Harris' office and willingly takes down any info.
After doing my duty I find that this bill may not be all its cracked up to be as far as a loop hole for employers who have seasonal or part time workers...we need to clear this up - we can't afford for a law to pass and then find its broken. Rep VanHaaften comments should be noted in previous comments.