THE ILLEGAL ALIEN FULL EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 2005

Don’t blink. The next major immigration bill in Congress may pass the House of Representatives before you know it.

The "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005"—H.R. 4437 [PDF]—was introduced on December 6 by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wisconsin), Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. The committee promptly approved the bill two days later on December 8.

H.R. 4437 is expected to be considered by the full House this week [PDF]—specifically on Thursday, according to the immigration reform group Numbers USA. The bill currently has 22 cosponsors.

And there’s one part of the bill that really caught my attention—"Title VII, Employment Eligibility Verification."

Sections 701 through 707 of H.R. 4437 set up a curious plan which appears to revive the shamelessly-unenforced employer sanctions provisions of Immigration Act Section 247.

But there’s a catch. The employers don’t actually have to fire the illegal aliens!

Section 702 states:

(v) CONSEQUENCES OF NONVERIFICATION—(I) TERMINATION OR NOTIFICATION OF CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT—If the person or other entity has received a final nonverification regarding an individual, the person or entity may terminate employment of the individual (or decline to recruit or refer the individual). If the person or entity does not terminate employment of the individual or proceeds to recruit or refer the individual, the person or entity shall notify the Secretary of Homeland Security of such fact through the verification system or in such other manner as the Secretary may specify.

So there you have it — may terminate employment of the individual . . . the smoking gun of non-enforcement.

As currently written, the employer-friendly H.R. 4437 doesn’t say "shall terminate" the illegal alien’s employment. There’s also no mention about what is going to happen to the illegal aliens who attempt to seek employment and are discovered by the verification system. Nothing saying that the employer "shall immediately alert the nearest Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office about the illegal alien’s presence." That would be too good to be true.

In fact, when employers use the new employment verification system, they can do so virtually risk-free. Section 701 of the bill, which amends Immigration Act Section 274A(b)(7)(J), states that "[n]o person or entity shall be civilly or criminally liable for any action taken in good faith reliance on information provided through the employment eligibility verification mechanism . . ."

So H.R. 4437 sees to it that employers are immunized from any criminal or immigration law liability, including Immigration Act Section 274 felony prosecutions, civil RICO violations, immigration-related discrimination against U.S. workers.

Read the full story: 12/12/05 - Amnesty Dead But Won't Lie Down – Sneaks Into Sensenbrenner's Immigration Bill