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"Riley Factor"
This article was featured in the May 2006
issue of Business Matters, the
Chamber's monthly print newsletter.
Immigration Debate Heats Up
As of the writing of this article, the United States
Senate is getting set for debate over what could be
a historic overhaul of U.S. immigration law.
Definitive lines have been drawn in the sand.
The battle positions, centering mostly on what to do
about the millions of undocumented immigrants in the
country, are not falling along a simple partisan
divide. There are splits within each party, a wedge
between many Republicans and President Bush, and an
outright chasm between the immigration reform being
debated in the Senate versus what has already been
passed by the House.
The majority of press coverage of the immigration
issue so far has centered on guest worker programs
and border security. However, some less covered
issues in the debate could wind up having the most
impact on business, specifically the provisions
dealing with electronic employment verification and
employer sanctions.
Both the Senate bill that emerged from the Senate
Judiciary Committee and a House bill introduced by
Bill Frist (R-TN) contain electronic verification
provisions.
Here is a quick summary of some of the more relevant
provisions in the bills:
Electronic Verification
An electronic verification system would become
universally mandatory within 5 years of enactment.
The system would be phased in as follows:
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Within 180 days of enactment, all employers in
the “critical infrastructure” industry (i.e.,
power plants, airports), will be required to
verify all employees, not just new employees.
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Within 2 years of enactment, employers of more
than 5,000 persons would haveto participate in
the system.
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Within 3 years, employers of more than 1,000
employees must participate.
-
Within 5 years, all employers must participate.
With the exception of the employers in the critical
infrastructure industry, employers would verify
electronically only new hires, and not existing
employees. Participating employers would enjoy “safe
harbor” while failure to participate as required
would be deemed a violation of laws prohibiting
hiring unauthorized workers.
Recordkeeping
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Employers would have to keep records for 7 years
(currently 3 years).
-
Employers would have to maintain Social Security
no-match letters and take affirmative steps to
resolve any error.
Penalties
Paperwork violations:
$200 to $2,000 for each paperwork violation
$400 to $4,000 for each violation if employer has
been fined once before $6,000 for each violation if
employer has been fined multiple times previously.
Hire violations:
$500 to $4,000 for each violation
$4,000 to $10,000 for each violation if employer has
been fined once before
$6,000 to $20,000 for employers who have been
penalized multiple times previously
An employer who engages in a pattern of violations
may be fined up to $20,000 and/or imprisoned for up
to 6 months. Violators would be ineligible to enter
into federal government contracts.
As the debate moves forward, the Greater Reading
Chamber of Commerce & Industry will be working with
our elected officials to seek passage of a
comprehensive immigration reform that would improve
security and border enforcement, develop a process
for undocumented workers to qualify
for legal work, and does not contain new employer
mandates and penalties. |
