By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
Legislation that would punish New Jersey businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants was introduced Tuesday in the New Jersey Senate, and has been referred to a Senate committee for discussion.
The bill — S-1312 — would suspend the licenses of first-time offending businesses specific to their trades, and revoke licenses permanently for repeat offenders. Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), and former Assistant Minority Leader John Adler (D-Camden) sponsored the bill.
It has quickly proven to be controversial, receiving both support from some area legislators and stiff opposition from local business organizations and state Hispanic advocacy groups, whose officials say the bill burdens New Jersey firms and targets immigrants, blaming them for the rest of the population’s economic problems.
But Sen. Sweeney said last week that the bill would both protect illegal immigrants from predatory employment with long hours and low wages, and force the federal government to begin taking steps to address the problem of illegal immigration.
”What has happened is that the federal government, under this administration, does not deal with any significant issues,” said Sen. Sweeney. “These kinds of bills will create the critical mass to force the federal government to do something.”
In the past, it was difficult for employers to verify identification used by immigrants, like Social Security cards, but technological advances now allow businesses to go on the Internet and check those kinds of documents, he said.
”My point is that the federal government has made it very easy to verify,” said Sen. Sweeney. “It takes away all of the arguments that the business community has made.”
Within days of the Senate bill’s introduction, Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey officials issued statements strongly rejected the Sweeney-Adler bill, asserting the legislation “unfairly scapegoats the immigrant population and places unfair burdens on the business community.”
”With this legislation Sen. Sweeney places blame on the private business sector and the undocumented for both depressed wages as well as the costs of state services, when the truth is that an irresponsible legislature created the state debt, as well as the conditions for depressed wages,” said Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, in a statement issued by the group.
The same statement said the difficulty of verifying documents put an unfair burden on New Jersey businesses.
Lawrence Krampf, CEO of the Princeton Communications Group and chairman of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, also agreed with statements about the difficulty businesses face trying to verify identification.
”We can only ask for certain information when hiring, and we’re required to take Social Security cards,” said Mr. Krampf, who said he was speaking as a businessman, and not for the entire Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It should really be handled at the federal level.”
Ranking Senate Democrat Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence), said she agreed with the spirit of the bill, and said that with its passage, the legislation would allow American citizens to work at jobs currently occupied by immigrants willing to work longer hours and for lower wages.
”I think that most employers don’t employ illegal aliens, just unscrupulous employers do so,” said Sen. Turner last week. “That creates an un-level playing field, because they have an unfair advantage in being able to make a bigger profit. There has to be some way to discourage and punish those that are breaking the law.”
She went on to say that the ability of some firms to hire illegal immigrants depresses wages in New Jersey.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), said it was important to carefully address the problem of illegal immigration, and warned that it was easy to scapegoat immigrants for the economic woes of others.
”Immigration reform really needs to be dealt with on the federal level,” said Assemblyman Gusciora. “We first need to get the state’s fiscal house in order.”
Other area business organization officials — who were all aware of the legislation when contacted — have taken varying stances against the legislation, with many claiming New Jersey businesses would be put at a disadvantage with nearby states where firms could hire illegal immigrants without fear of punishment.
Jim Leonard, a senior vice president at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said his organization was taking a similar stance on Sen. Sweeney’s bill.
”Our concern is that you put businesses in an unfair situation if you’re doing things here that aren’t being done in New York and Pennsylvania,” said Mr. Leonard. “There should be a comprehensive approach, and not a state-by-state puzzle-like approach.”
There is a fear that many businesses actually unknowingly hired illegal immigrants, and could potentially be shut down with the passage of such a bill, according to Mr. Leonard.
Michele Siekerka, president of the Mercer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, said her organization’s legislative body had not yet reviewed the bill, so she could not comment on it directly.
”But any bill that has a negative effect on business, we oppose,” she said.
A similar bill was recently upheld by a Arizona judge, who said federal law allows states to regulate business licenses and the employment of illegal immigrants, according to Sen. Sweeney.
The bill, S-1312, must be released from the Senate Labor Committee before it could be put to a vote by the full state Senate.
