Jeanfromfillmore
01-26-2010, 01:33 AM
New workers' status bill's emphasis
State senator is targeting undocumented workers for a third time
INDIANAPOLIS State agencies, local governments and their contractors are the focus of proposed legislation to prevent immigrants who cannot verify their legal status from working directly or indirectly on the taxpayer dime.
Senate Bill 213, authored by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, would require state agencies, cities and counties to use a federal online system to check the eligibility status of all newly hired employees.
The bill also would require contractors doing business with the state, cities and counties to have a contract in place certifying they have verified the legal status of their employees.
The bill, which passed the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee last week, faces a hearing Tuesday with the Senate Appropriations Committee.
At issue is the long-standing debate over illegal immigration. Some estimates put Indiana's population of illegal immigrants at more than 100,000.
It is Delph's third attempt in three years to crack down on the number of people who enter the state illegally, most often in hope of a better life.
It's not about the worth of a human being, said Delph, whose failed bill last year would have suspended business licenses of employers who hired undocumented workers on three separate occasions. It's about the taxpayers and citizens of Indiana having the right to know their government is working on their behalf to enforce the rule of law.
M. Esther Barber, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Mexican Civic Association of Indiana, has opposed each of Delph's bills.
Poor people come here seeking a better quality of life, like any human being, Barber said. If that is a crime, everybody is a criminal in this country and all over the world.
Delph's bill would require the use of E-Verify, a free online federal program that compares employment forms against a database of Social Security numbers, to verify the eligibility status of newly hired employees.
Barbara Lamb, director of human resources for the city of Carmel, said her department pays an online service to check Social Security numbers for eligibility status and other issues, such as a person's criminal background.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101250375
State senator is targeting undocumented workers for a third time
INDIANAPOLIS State agencies, local governments and their contractors are the focus of proposed legislation to prevent immigrants who cannot verify their legal status from working directly or indirectly on the taxpayer dime.
Senate Bill 213, authored by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, would require state agencies, cities and counties to use a federal online system to check the eligibility status of all newly hired employees.
The bill also would require contractors doing business with the state, cities and counties to have a contract in place certifying they have verified the legal status of their employees.
The bill, which passed the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee last week, faces a hearing Tuesday with the Senate Appropriations Committee.
At issue is the long-standing debate over illegal immigration. Some estimates put Indiana's population of illegal immigrants at more than 100,000.
It is Delph's third attempt in three years to crack down on the number of people who enter the state illegally, most often in hope of a better life.
It's not about the worth of a human being, said Delph, whose failed bill last year would have suspended business licenses of employers who hired undocumented workers on three separate occasions. It's about the taxpayers and citizens of Indiana having the right to know their government is working on their behalf to enforce the rule of law.
M. Esther Barber, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Mexican Civic Association of Indiana, has opposed each of Delph's bills.
Poor people come here seeking a better quality of life, like any human being, Barber said. If that is a crime, everybody is a criminal in this country and all over the world.
Delph's bill would require the use of E-Verify, a free online federal program that compares employment forms against a database of Social Security numbers, to verify the eligibility status of newly hired employees.
Barbara Lamb, director of human resources for the city of Carmel, said her department pays an online service to check Social Security numbers for eligibility status and other issues, such as a person's criminal background.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101250375