DREAM Act Portal Forum - Check out this new immigration bill put up in TX by a raceist legislator

Let me tell you we are screwed in Texas now if you are a Mexican they are going to try to get rid of us all. And the bastards have the majority of republicans to do it.

: New bill targets employers who hire illegal immigrants
Posted on Thursday, February 10 @ 12:46:06 EST
Topic: State Laws Immigration illegal legal
State Laws Immigration illegal legalOne of the Texas House's most prolific writers of anti-illegal immigration legislation filed her fifth related bill Wednesday. This one targets employers who hire undocumented workers.

State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball , said her bill would make it a state jail felony "to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly hire a person who is not lawfully permitted to be in America."

"Employers who reward and incentivize this illegal behavior are the primary culprit in the illegal immigration problem," Riddle said in a statement. "Now they're going to have to think hard about whether or not it's worth the risk to them and their business when they make these hiring decisions."

Subjects: Illegal immigration, Texas, bill, legislation, House Bill 1202, employers, undocumented workers, prosecute, felony

Feb. 9, 2011
Tim Eaton
Statesman.com

The bill would exempt from prosecution people who hire undocumented workers to help out at single-family residences.

The one-page bill is one of about 50 measures that have been filed in the state House and Senate that seek to curb illegal immigration.

House Bill 1202 drew quick criticism from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Luis Figueroa, a staff attorney for MALDEF, said Riddle's bill asks too much of law enforcement and could prove to be problematic for people in the country legally.

Police have neither the expertise nor the resources to determine someone's work status, and officers who might raid a company wouldn't necessarily know what documents to look for, he said.

"Immigration law is extremely complicated," Figueroa said. "It is very similar to asking a police officer to enforce the IRS tax code."

But Riddle's chief of staff, Jon English, said the measure would be simple.

"This will work like any other crime," he said.

It would be up to individual law enforcement agencies and district attorneys to decide how much of their resources they would dedicate to enforcing the proposed law.

Local prosecutors also would decide whom they'd prosecute.

It could be a corporation, a CEO or whomever the prosecutor feels is culpable, English said.

He added that the exemption for people who hire workers at single-family homes shows that Riddle is going after big employers, not individuals who might hire an undocumented person to work around the house.

It is not yet clear how much traction the bill will get in the Legislature. But English said he and Riddle were bolstered when Gov. Rick Perry called for such action in his State of the State speech Tuesday.

English said Riddle's office had not been in touch with Perry about the bill before his remarks.

"I guess we're just thinking along the same lines," English said.

After Perry's speech, one Austin lawmaker, Rep. Paul Workman, a Republican, said securing the border should be the first priority.

"We need to get border security under control before we deal with the undocumented workers that are here," said Workman, who is a business owner and member of the House's Business and Industry Committee.

One of the state's most prominent business groups has already said Riddle's bill is misguided.

Bill Hammond, the president of the Texas Association of Business , said the measure is the wrong remedy for a problem that should be solved at the national level.

If passed, the measure would hold employers accountable for Congress' failure to pass immigration reform, he said.

Plus, Hammond said, it would be too hard for employers to determine a worker's status.

"We think it is unfair to ask them to be forensics experts," he said.