Immigration Reform Bill Hard on Employers
By: Matt, December 21st, 2005
A new bill introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) in November will be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives as soon as the current session, which ends at the end of this month. The legislation, which has been termed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (HR 4437) deals with border protection and enforcement as well as employment eligibility verification.
It is specifically the employer verification language of the proposed legislation that has business and staffing leaders concerned. New mandates on employers under the bill would include the following:
- Expansion of a current pilot verification system without scaling back or eliminating the I-9 verification process
- A stipulation regarding work site enforcement that would require a review of all employees hired in the past
- Limitless new penalties for violations of the employer verification requirements
- An increase on the penalties for paperwork violation, from $1,000 to $25,000
A massive effort to defeat or revise the pending legislation has been underway for some time, with a group called the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition vehemently opposing the proposed bill. The Coalition is comprised of The International Franchise Association, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Restaurant Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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