N. Idaho lawmakers plan immigration legislation
Monday, December 15, 2008 10:16 AM PST
COEUR D’ALENE, (AP) — Two northern Idaho lawmakers say they will introduce legislation that would penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, and Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, said they will try to pass the proposed law that has been rejected the last two years.
Lawmakers in the last session rejected a bill that would have required employers to verify workers’ immigration status. But Hart said that some lawmakers who voted against the bill have either been voted out of office or have changed their minds.
If the proposed law passes, companies that violate it could have their business licenses suspended or revoked.
‘‘The state’s only recourse to curb illegal immigration is enforcement through employers,’’ Jorgenson said. ‘‘We’re just going to pick up where we left off and put some teeth in it.’’
One of the opponents of the bill in the last session was dairy farmer John Vander Woude, a Republican representing Nampa. But he lost his re-election bid this year.
‘‘I can’t help but think all the flak he got contributed to that,’’ Hart said.
The proposed law Hart and Jorgenson plan to introduce would also make it possible for immigrants who falsely impersonate other people to be punished with up to two years in jail or a $5,000 fine.
The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation didn’t take a position on the proposed bill at the last session, said John Thompson, director of the agency.
He said he hasn’t seen the current version but ‘‘We would oppose any legislation that puts the onus on the employers to verify.
‘‘It’s way beyond what I would expect my farmer to do,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘With agriculture, it just ends up making people’s food cost more money. That’s important for consumers to know.’’
But Hart said Idaho residents are concerned about illegal immigration.
‘‘When you poll Idahoans, 85 percent want the Legislature to do something about immigration,’’ Hart said.
