 December 8, 2009 Are local, state governments ignoring Senate Bill 81?
After some years of discussion and delay, Senate Bill 81, which deals with illegal immigration, was implemented last summer. One of the requirements of the law was that all government employers must use an employment verification program, such as E-Verify.
This law was designed to assist in enforcing federal law (8 USC 1324a) against hiring "unauthorized" immigrants. An additional requirement was that all businesses being awarded contracts by public entities must also verify legal rights of employment - citizenship or a valid work visa.
An Oct. 29 of E-Verify users, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, indicates that only four of 29 county governments have registered to use E-Verify. Further, only 30 percent of Utah school districts have signed up and the number of other municipalities is miniscule.
Utah has about 80,000 employers, and the Homeland Security report indicates that about 1,800, or barely 2 percent, are using the program. Even before the effective date of SB-81, about 900 companies were using the program. While it is reassuring that more companies have decided to use the verification option, if government entities are not using E-Verify, it can be reasonably assumed that enforcement of awarding contracts to E-Verify companies is also being ignored.
It is possible that some public entities may be using SAVE or other employment verification programs. SAVE was instituted in 1987 after the last amnesty to preclude another mass of illegal influx. It obviously had little effect.SAVE charges a fee for the information, whereas E-Verify has no user fees. Why is verification important? Federal law specifically prohibits the hiring of unauthorized immigrants. The Utah Legislature passed the state law in an attempt to stem the ever-increasing costs of services provided to those ineligible to reside in this country.
In particular, by Supreme Court decision, all children residing in this country must be provided with a K-12 education - paid for with taxpayer money. A 2007 Utah legislative audit reported these education costs to be $85 million. Many studies have reported other costs that can be attributed to unauthorized or illegal aliens.
Utah is one of the few states to offer in-state tuition to illegals, in violation of federal law (8 USC 1623). A similar California law was declared in violation of federal law and required California to refund the excess tuition paid by U.S. citizens. The issue is now before the California Supreme Court and if upheld will cost Utah millions of dollars in repayment of non-resident tuition to those attended Utah colleges.
E-verification is a step in instituting the policy of "attrition through enforcement" in reducing the presence of unauthorized immigrants. Simple enforcement of current state and federal immigration laws will solve the supposed problem of having to round up all the illegals for deportation. Restricting employment, benefits and other enticements will facilitate the process of self-removal. Without jobs and benefits, unauthorized immigrants will tend to return to their respective homelands. Self-deportation would allow them to retain the earnings they may have accumulated and to use the education, experience and learning they may have attained to, hopefully, correct the problems of those home countries.
Law Enforcement and government in general should also be ensuring compliance with federal law. "Attrition through enforcement" could cause millions of jobs to become available to those now unemployed due to the current economic downturn. Robert Wren is a St. George resident. |
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