The Senate voted 58-40 to increase penalties for hiring undocumented workers. Fines would be doubled to $20,000 and repeat offenders could be sentenced to prison for up to three years.
Increasing penalties means nothing when there is no enforcement.
Employer sanctions were part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 that legalized 4 million illegals, but the sanctions were never fully enforced. The result is today there are 12 million illegals looking for legalization.
According to the Associated Press:
The Senate bill requires employers to check Social Security numbers and the immigration status of all new hires within 18 months after money is provided to the Homeland Security Department to expand the electronic system for screening workers.
Workers' information would have to be submitted to the electronic system within three days after the worker is hired. The Homeland Security Department would have to confirm the worker is legal or tell the employer the worker can't be immediately confirmed as a legal worker within 10 days.
The measure provides workers opportunities to contest the system's determination and to correct information that may be incorrectly flagging them as illegal workers. It also protects employers from liability if the screening system makes a mistake.
The Senate's proposal is a joke compared to a similar provision in the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act approved by the House last December.
The House bill would impose fines on employers of undocumented workers ranging from $5,000 to $40,000. But, unlike the Senate bill, the House measure would require employers to screen all employees instead of only new hires.
The Senate's proposal would take years to implement and workers deemed illegal could still hold onto jobs until their appeals are exhausted.
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Comments: 16
To you, it may be a divisionary tactic and a vote getting act for Bush, but for anyone living in a state completely overwhelmed by illegal immigrants. This is not a new, election year issue. California, Arizona and New Mexico have been begging for help for years.
I have a letter from Diane Feinstein (D) California Senator and from Dennis Cardoza, (R) my U.S. Rep.
Both blessing the illegal immigrants and their accomplishments, while breaking numerous laws, and stating that
Ag business needs them, the 12 million illegal immigrants.
Johnny, I
n the comments posted to another article on immigration, two of the posters mentioned that we "pick and choose which laws will obey,"
and went on to use this as a reason to just ignore the illegal immigration. Do you also just pick and choose the laws you obey?
I guess I am wondering if you think nothing should be done about the illegal immigrants in the U.S.?
I do realize that the only reason Bush and the Senate and the House of Reps, or is that (Perps) are only working on this now because of the election.
I am still glad that something is being done.
I still don't know what you were talking about, bringing up a comment thread in which I wasn't even involved.
And this does nothing about dayworkers. So the person asks for a social security card ... Bet only a few would have a green card.
Anita, we can go look at the law and see how it reads, it is still being amendended, so we don't know what the dog is going to look like yet.
here is a link to a Library of Congress site where you can look at the bills.
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html
I shouldn't have looked at the dog. It includes assistance to Mexico (money) to secure the southern border of Mexico. . .
The illegal immigrants are going to be granted social secutity benefits.
Now, I don't know how this will be done, when it is a fact that while some employers did deduct this, and pay the employer portion. Many deducted the tax, did not send it and did not pay the employer share.
Ummmm guess who will pay?
Then there are all the paid in cash day laborers, how are they going to get reconciled to the system?
Seems like it would have been easier to just begin enforcing our existing laws.
No one can even agree on what the problem is, specifically.