I’m guilty. I admit it. When I called state Rep. Al White to ask about his idea to impose sanctions on employers who fail to verify workers’ immigration status, I merely feigned ignorance.
I confess I hired a man to clean my gutters without even seeing the guy, much less examining his driver’s license, state identification card, U.S. military card or Native American tribal document.
The guy posted a sign in the neighborhood. I called. He did a great job and I sent him a check. What can I say?
Still, White’s attempt to address the issue of unscrupulous employers who knowingly recruit undocumented workers is admirable. I’m with the Winter Park Republican all the way, theoretically at least, as are tens of thousands of other Coloradans who hire workers without paying any attention to their documentation, legitimate or otherwise.
It’s just that efforts such as House Bill 1018 illustrate how clumsy a weapon state law is for cracking down on illegal immigration and how deeply conflicted we really are about the issue.
“I don’t contend this is a perfect bill,” White said of his proposal to fine employers up to $25,000 for failing to retain a copy of a document proving the employee is eligible to work in the U.S.
Immigration lawyer Ann Allott thinks the concept is not just imperfect – it’s laughable. “I’ve been an immigration lawyer for 30 years and sometimes it still takes me years to verify a person’s immigration status,” she said.
Legal residents frequently lose their birth certificates or immigration documents through floods, fires, thefts or other disasters. People displaced by Hurricane Katrina are recent examples.
And phony documents can be so clever and sophisticated that even government agencies routinely fail to spot them as fraudulent.
So expecting employers to fulfill the role of immigration cops when so many other agencies have failed is unrealistic – especially when we’re talking about ordinary folks who are simply looking for a little help around the house.
White said his intent is not to bust parents hiring babysitters but to target big employers, “like the roofing company with 20 undocumented employees that’s not paying for the things required to do business in this state and is consistently underbidding the company that is operating within the law.”
But the thousands of Coloradans who hire housekeepers, nannies, gardeners and other workers would be just as guilty under such a law.
“It’s the suburban soccer moms who would be at risk,” said Suzette Tucker-Welch, senior analyst for the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. “Perhaps you have a neighbor who doesn’t like it that you have somebody who speaks Spanish doing yard work at your house. If he files a complaint with the state, what are they going to say?”
Mind your own business is probably not an option.
Now, I’m not saying that jackbooted thugs from the Department of Labor and Employment will be knocking down doors and smoking out every homeowner who hires a casual laborer to trim the hedges. There’s no money in the state budget for enforcing sanctions against employers – big or small – and there’s no political will to take on all the soccer moms with floors that need scrubbing or the campaign contributors with lawns that need mowing.
So relax, it’s not going to happen.
And that’s the whole point.
As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a U.S. Senate committee last week, undocumented workers are embedded in our culture. The economy “would collapse if they were deported.”
“They’re everywhere,” Tucker-Welch said. And even among those who argue most vehemently for deporting illegal immigrants, “there’s cognitive dissonance when it comes to people they know and like, people they depend on.”
So don’t expect anything more than political posturing from state legislators during the special session this week.
It’s all they intended to do all along.
They know it’s all Coloradans can handle.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
