Date: 1984-06-12
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. this amendment is very specific in its purpose. It seeks to do only one thing. it would exempt small employersthose employing three or fewer workersfrom the criminal and civil penalties prescribed in the immigration bill. The amendment excludes employers of three or fewer workers from employer sanctions. As in now common knowledge. the bill before us today would establish a fourtiered penalty structure for employers who hire. recruit. or refer undocumented aliens. The penalties are uniformly applied to all employers regardless of the number of workers under their employ. Mr. Chairman. I just do not believe that it was the intention of our Founding Fathers to place U.S. citizens who happen to employ one. two. or maybe three workers in the position of having to enforce our national immigration policy. The fact that we have arrived at this point is representative of the extent to which this Government has failed to meet its responsibilIty to protect the integrity of our borders. Under this bill we are going to threaten mom and pop operations. shopowners. and all the small employers of Main Street. U.S.A.. with criminal and civil penalties if they are found to employ undocumented aliens. Under this blil we are going to sanction small. rural farmers who need workers but who cannot always find help. There are areas in this country where people who are trying to carry on a legitimate business cannot get people to work. I know firsthand of people in east and west Texas and in other areas of the Southwest who have literally advertised in every news media in an effort to find workers willing to labor for $5 an hour and more. They could not get people to do the work. Though brief mention is made in the bill report language that II.R. 1510 is not meant -to cover casual hire. there is no place in the bill itself that says that everybody is not going to be included. Under the way this bill is written. we could very well be threatening criminal sanctions upon widows or senior citizens who employ helpers to clean windows. to assist in home repair. or to maintain their yards. If the bill is not intended to cover casual hire. that policy should be spelled out in statute language. not report language. Mr. Chairman. though employers carrying three or fewer workers constitute 50 percent of all employers in this country. they hire only 5 percent of the working population. My amendment excluding employers of three or fewer workers. therefore. would not perpetuate a substantial job magnet. Larger employers have a regular personnel policy and maintain personnel fifes. It is a fairly easy thing for them to keep documents such as those required under this legislation. The same cannot be said for small employers and certainly not for individuals involved in casual hire. Under this bill we leave the proverbial foot in the door that will allow an overzealous INS to go into residential areas to ferret out citizens who may haveinnocently or nothired an illegal alien. or two. or three. This amendment is necessary to protect mom and pop businesses. small farmers. and families who hire domestics from criminal and civil liabillity. Immigration reform was never meant to include these people under the watchful eye of government. If we can extend to small employers an exemption from having to comply with the paperwork requirements of the bill. we can and should release small employers from civil and criminal liability. This amendment goes a long way toward improving the bill. and I ask that it be given favorable consideration.