Our View: The wrong bill and the wrong path to reform
Idaho Statesman
Published: 03/10/10

Idaho senators did the right thing Monday. By killing an ill-advised immigration "reform" bill, they refused to legislate out of frustration.

Good call - even if there's good reason for frustration.

The federal government has dropped the ball on immigration reform. Making matters even worse, this topic has all but vanished from the national agenda.

Idaho cannot solve this national problem on its own. But it can cause a lot of damage along the way - imposing hardship, harboring resentment and creating the illusion of getting something done.

With Senate Bill 1303, Hayden Republican Sen. Mike Jorgenson handed his colleagues an unfocused mess of flashpoints - including language about "harboring" illegal immigrants and a ban on so-called "sanctuary cities" that do not partner with the feds on enforcement. His bill even mandated English-only written driver's license exams (how that would curb illegal immigration is anyone's guess). The job of enforcing all of these sundry sections would fall largely to local entities, which are about as cash-strapped as state agencies.

But the bill's most controversial section targeted employers. Large, small and even family businesses would have been required to use the federal E-Verify program to check applicants' citizenship. Any employer that knowingly hired illegal immigrants could face fines and the loss of state or local licenses.

In a perfect world - or at least in a country with a functioning legal immigration system - these sanctions might make sense. But the federal government has failed to create a system that allows employers to hire the immigrant laborers they need. That is a job beyond the pay grade of Jorgenson and the rest of Idaho Legislature.

And even in a recession, business lobbyists said Monday, domestic workers simply aren't interested in the jobs that attract immigrant laborers.

This doesn't mean immigration is a dead issue at the Statehouse. Still on the docket is Senate Bill 1271, drafted by Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell. It would ban the manufacture and the use of false identification; an employer who knowingly hires someone with fake ID could face a two-year jail sentence and a $50,000 fine.

Businesses had a say in writing this bill, but that doesn't water down the product. This bill still targets businesses that display a willful contempt for the law - but it does so in a fair and workable manner. It doesn't take out political frustrations on Idaho employers, nor does it make them into de facto immigration officers.

No, this bill doesn't promise or provide far-reaching reform. But if Congress is unable or unwilling to do its job, there's nothing wrong with making some incremental progress at the state level.

"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com. (hm, no bias here.)

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