Measures on curbing illegals fail

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 10, 2006 by Deborah Bulkeley Deseret Morning News

Two bills aimed at clamping down on illegal immigration failed to move out of a House committee Thursday.

HB179 would require employers to verify the identity of all new hires through the Department of Homeland Security. The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee opted for no action, after a motion to table the bill failed in a tied 3-3 vote.

The committee also tabled HB64 in a 6-1 vote. That bill would have repealed driving privilege cards. The cards were approved last session as a compromise that would allow undocumented immigrants to drive without a driver's license or access other rights of citizenship.

A recent legislative audit showed an estimated 75 percent of driving privilege card holders had insurance. However, Chairman Bud Bowan, R-Cedar City, said he'd look at requesting an audit to look into potential fraud, after problems with a similar Tennessee law were discussed.

Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, sponsor of both bills, said he had no plans to bring back HB64, but he may bring back HB179 later this session after tweaking the bill to address committee members' concerns.

Rep. Duane Bourdeaux, D-Salt Lake, questioned whether the bill could lead to racial profiling. Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, questioned how the bill would effect Utah's employment law, which gives employers the right to let go employees without cause, with the exception of certain legally protected classes.

The bill would allow employees to sue for damages if they are terminated by an employer who has not signed up to participate in the federal employment verification program.

Donnelson said the clause was meant as a "self-enforcement" measure to encourage employers to comply with the law aimed at curbing identity theft. He said his bill was similar to proposed federal legislation.

"It's a good bill," Donnelson said. "You've seen on the news how kids' Social Security numbers are being stolen. . . . We have to do something to tie this up."

Thomas Bingham, president of the Utah Manufacturers Association, said he had "serious concerns" about what the bill would mean for employers, saying "this needs to be thought about a whole lot more."

Assistant Attorney General Richard Hamp said HB179 would go a long way toward curbing identity theft in Utah. He said about 90 percent of identity theft cases involve illegal immigrants, it is also a problem in the drug trade and white collar crime, he said.

He said 132,000 Utahns had had their identities stolen in 2000 -- roughly 5 percent of the state's population.

"It is an endemic that has grown beyond anybody's wild imagination," he said. "I have never seen a crime that has impacted that many people in my entire career."

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com