Following a Friday hearing on immigration reform in the Legislature, state Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island said he believes Sen. Brad Ashford will propose a bill requiring Nebraska businesses to use E-Verify, a federal online system operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to help determine the employment eligibility of new hires.
Some people have suggested that other potential legislation that the Nebraska Legislature might consider includes having local police departments enforce federal immigration laws and providing more direct money for English classes to help immigrants assimilate into American society.
Aguilar had his doubts about legislation requiring local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws. He noted that most police departments don’t want the responsibility, with many police chiefs believing their officers already have enough work to do. Aguilar noted that before police departments can enforce federal immigration laws, its officers must have training.
“Who is going to pay for that?” he asked.
Some Nebraska lawmakers said the state can no longer ignore the issue of illegal immigration and are considering a plan that would require all businesses to verify the immigration status of anyone they hire.
A report by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee said Nebraska is quickly becoming divided into two groups: one that enjoys the rights of citizenship and one that works and contributes but can never progress in society. “We are not going to be complacent in a system that creates an underclass of workers,” said Sen. Brad Ashford. Ashford wants state companies to check the status of new hires through the federal E-Verify system.
Fremont businessman Bill Ekeler said just posting E-Verify signs in business windows is already proving to be a deterrent. There are some questions about the accuracy of the E-Verify system and whether requiring its use will make a difference because most major employers already use it.
“They are really going to get farmers or the small contractor,” said Senator John Wrightman of Lexington. But others said the state needs to do something.
“Your job as elected officials is to make sure the few jobs you have in Nebraska are held by citizens and legal immigrants who have the right to work,” said immigration reform advocate Susan Tully.
Nebraska will need federal help if it is to get at the root of the illegal immigration problem, but it bears the responsibility for taking care of the home front. That was among the testimony that came out of a legislative hearing Friday as state lawmakers look at what policies are needed to address illegal immigration.
It means leaving enforcement of immigration law to federal officials and crafting statewide policy dealing with integration issues.
Committee chairman Brad Ashford says state lawmakers need to look at helping those affected by the inaction of federal officials.
On Friday, the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will conduct a hearing at the state capitol. The committee members are seeking public input on how the state should respond to illegal immigration, an issue typically considered to be the federal government’s responsibility.
State Senator Brad Ashford of Omaha, committee chairman, said he is convinced now, more than ever, that the state should intervene. As Congress continues to neglect its responsibility to update immigration laws, he said, taxpayers are demanding action from local officials.
The hearing is at 9 a.m. Friday at the State Capitol, Room 1524.
A Fremont task force is suggesting the city adopt some pieces of a failed proposal to ban renting to or hiring illegal immigrants, such as fining employers who don’t check their workers’ legal status. Members also suggest new ideas in a report presented to the city council Wednesday, including educating employers and others in the community to combat the problem. But it will be up to the council whether the recommendations go beyond mere suggestions.
The task force formed in August after the defeat of a proposed ordinance that would have banned renting to and hiring illegal immigrants within city limits. The task force supports requiring employers to use a federal Internet-based employment verification system, called E-Verify. The system is now used voluntarily by some businesses. The task force wants the city to educate employers about developing proper hiring procedures to comply with immigration laws.
Employers, for example, need to understand how to use E-Verify and I-9 forms, which also are used to determine employment verification. Employers also need to know what to do when they have reasonable suspicion they’ve identified an illegal immigrant, according to the report. State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, who has been working with task force members as he considers illegal immigration-related legislation to introduce in January, applauded the group for its work and said such changes can’t stop at Fremont city limits.
“I think its important that communities address the issue, but in the end it should be a statewide standard,” he said.
Federal officials deported and arrested record numbers of illegal immigrants over the past year in a five-state region that includes Nebraska, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data released Thursday. The Bloomington, Minn., ICE field office that oversees Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota deported more than 4,900 illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2008.
The figures for Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30 are up nearly 20% from 4,100 the previous year. About 2,100 of those returned to their native countries in fiscal 2008 had prior criminal convictions. The Pew Hispanic Center released a state-by-state breakdown report in 2005, making it one of the most recent estimates available That report estimated Nebraska could have had between 20,000 and 35,000 illegal immigrants.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also released year-end figures Thursday for the Nebraska Service Center. Among its highlights, the Lincoln facility processed more than 960,000 applications for immigration benefits and more than 178,000 naturalization applications in 2008.
A task force studying illegal immigration expects to release its ideas of how to deal with the issue early next month. Task force co-chairman Bill Ekeler says his group is pushing up plans to present recommendations to the Fremont City Council by a few weeks.
The Nebraska Legislature reconvenes in January and is expected to consider legislation dealing with illegal immigration. The task force formed after the defeat of a proposal that would have banned renting to and hiring illegal immigrants in Fremont.
A task force studying illegal immigration expects to release its ideas of how to deal with the issue early next month. Task force co-chairman Bill Ekeler says his group is pushing up plans to present recommendations to the Fremont City Council by a few weeks.
The Nebraska Legislature reconvenes in January and is expected to consider legislation dealing with illegal immigration. The task force formed after the defeat of a proposal that would have banned renting to and hiring illegal immigrants in Fremont.
A Nebraska state senator studying illegal immigration is proposing the state look at mandating use of a federal employment verification system. Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha says that will be among proposals the Legislature will have to look at during the new legislative session, which begins in January. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee said some 30,000 to 50,000 illegal immigrants are living and working in Nebraska, and the federal government’s actions have created a “sad, sorrowful situation.” “We have, in fact, created an underclass of workers in our state,” Ashford said. He hopes changes made by the state would force the hand of federal officials to make their own changes, he said. Ashford said Fremont city leaders tried unsuccessfully earlier this year to mandate use of the system as part of a proposal that would have banned hiring illegal immigrants or renting housing to them. “Fremont is just the tip of the iceberg,” Ashford said in an interview, citing tensions in that Dodge County city. “It’s going to erupt across the state.” Ten states require the use of E-Verify for public and/or private employers with Arizona and Mississippi mandating it for all, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Illinois, on the other hand, limits use of the federal system until its accuracy is improved and it has privacy and anti-discrimination protections. The system has been faulted for its inability to recognize when Social Security numbers provided by job applicants are used in multiple locations — a likely sign the prospective hires are illegal immigrants using bought or stolen identification.
At least one state, Tennessee, encourages E-Verify’s use by providing a safe harbor from state penalties for employers who use it. Ashford talked to people in Lexington, Grand Island, Schuyler, North Platte and Scottsbluff as part of his interim study on illegal immigration. His study has focused on how illegal immigration affects education, employment and social services, but he said employment takes precedence. He plans to release a full report of his findings. A public hearing on the report is set for Dec. 12 in Lincoln.
A top immigration official said federal agencies are working on an agreement that could make it tougher for illegal immigrants to get jobs. Jock Scharfen is acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. O n Tuesday he said in Lincoln that his agency is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take advantage of a computer system used by employers to check the legal status of new hires.
Illegal immigrants are often able to trick the system by using false identification. But Scharfen said the system is close to being able to alert employers to possible identity fraud. The two agencies are discussing which cases should be targeted for enforcement.