Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (left), marches during an immigration rally in Los Angeles, May 17. The rally was held as a response to the Los Angeles Police Department's action at a May 1st rally, when they used force to disperse the crowd. A deal between leading senators would grant millions of undocumented immigrants lawful status, but other reform advocates warned any celebration was premature. -Reuters

Professor David P. Rowe, Contributor

As many Jamaicans would know, there is a major immigration bill being considered by the United States Senate. It affects the livelihood of hundreds of Jamaicans in the United States of America.

An important feature of the new bill is the aggressive worksite enforcement provisions it contains. Immigration police would be literally let loose on the general public to look over the shoulders of every employer. Jamaicans living and working in the United States of America illegally would be sent home.

Title III s.1348 of the Senate Bill makes employers liable for their illegal workers. It even makes employers liable for the illegal workers that their subcontractors have on the payrolls. See s. 302 (a) (3). Employers, to protect themselves, might have to start administering polygraph (lie detector) tests to determine if their employees are legal immigrants or not.

S. 302 (c) of theSenate Bill creates extremely difficult mandatory record keeping for employers. This provision will choke many small businesses because of the expenses associated with generating compliant paperwork.

Under the Senate Bill, the IRS will be able to share detailed taxpayer data with private non-governmental contractors of Homeland Security. The IRS has never before been allowed to share confidential tax information with private parties. This is a significant power that the IRS will receive and Republicans, who generally want less government, rather than more, are not happy with this provision.

Fingerprinting

To make a bad situation worse, the Department of Homeland Security will be able to initiate a fingerprinting programme which may force some large private businesses such as banks and supermarkets to fingerprint new workers so that undocumented workers are not hired.

Astonishingly, at the same time, some 12 million undocumented aliens, once they have declared that they are in the country illegally and pay a preliminary US$1,000 fine, immediately enter a perpetual temporary work permit situation renewable every four years, once they haven't committed a criminal offence during that time. Legal Americans and naturalised citizens will however have to prove that they are eligible for work authorisation through the production of a birth certificate or passport. This seems to be an unequal yoke.

Building contractors will have to register under the Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS). Workers who are not registered with the EEVS are subject to termination see (Sec. 302 (d) (5) (c))

"Big Brother", as Orwellian wags are always calling the United States Federal Government, will be more powerful as a result of this proposed statute.

New Senate bill not workable

In my considered opinion, the new Senate Bill is not workable in its current form. It places too much emphasis on paperwork and law enforcement remedies, without providing practical low cost solutions for aliens including many Jamaicans who need to transition into the regular society.

At a philosophical level, does the new Immigration Bill violate the concept of the Rule of Law? The Rule of Law is the bedrock system of the Anglo-American justice system which guarantees citizens equitable enforcement of the law. The new proposed Immigration Bill evidently protects overstays from being deported. Overstays, those who enter legally (visitors visa) and remain in the country illegally, are violating the law. Forgiving the wanton violation of law only undermines the law. Amnesty is generally inappropriate when the law causes a lack of justice. Should illegal aliens in the United States be rewarded with legal status while those who have abided by the law, just sit and wait? Why should overstays cause the entire system of United States Immigration to be overhauled?

Perhaps the Senate Bill, as comprehensive as it is, places the economic burden for immigrants upon the small municipalities who are unable to handle the cost. So the State picks up the tab for services to immigrants. Illegal aliens therefore constitute an unfunded federal mandate placed on the States because the Federal Government is unwilling to properly enforce its own immigration laws. The long-term result of such reform will be that fewer non-citizens will be able to migrate to the United States of America.

David P. Rowe is a professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law and St. Thomas University School of Law.