Lawmakers set to craft bills to battle illegal immigration

CARSON CITY -- With the economy in shambles and a report that illegal immigrants are going back home, illegal immigration won't be a big issue at the 2009 Legislature.

But Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said legislators at least should try to craft a law to punish employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.

"We tried to do that last time," he added. "We should try again."

Two years ago, legislators approved a convoluted law that gave the state Tax Commission authority to fine companies that "willfully, flagrantly or otherwise egregiously" hire illegal workers.

But under this law, the Tax Commission could do nothing until the U.S. attorney general had made a "final decision" on whether the company hired illegal immigrants in violation of federal law. Then, in April 2008, the state attorney general's office ruled the law could not be enforced.

State and local immigration laws punishing companies that hired these workers were pre-empted by federal anti-immigration laws, according to the opinion.

As of November there were 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, down from a peak of 12.5 million in August 2007. About 250,000 live in Nevada.

The decline is due in part to their inability to find jobs during the recession, according to Steve Camarota, researcher for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.

National unemployment stands at 7.2 percent, and Nevada's current rate is 9.1 percent.

But Camarota said the unemployment rates for the least skilled and educated citizens are much higher than those rates. Their jobs are taken by illegal workers, he added.

His organization found that among college educated citizens, the unemployment rate is low, just 3 percent. But among teenagers, unemployment is 24 percent and it's 15 percent for those who did not graduate from high school.

"People who are suffering the most in the recession are the least educated people," Camarota said.

Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, doubts Assembly Democrats will give much consideration to a bill he has introduced on illegal immigration.

Cobb wants to deny Millennium Scholarships, driver's licenses and other social benefits to illegal immigrants.

"If you ask people in a survey about illegal immigration, an incredible number of them are concerned," Cobb said. "The economy is the No. 1 issue now and illegal immigration affects the economy."

He added a federal court decision prevent states from denying public school education access to illegal immigrants.

Two years ago Cobb introduced similar legislation that went nowhere.

Oceguera said some of Cobb's ideas are "far out," but his bill will receive consideration at a hearing.

During a hearing in 2007, Nevada System of Higher Education officials estimated that no more than 92 illegal immigrants received the $10,000 Millennium Scholarship.

State officials doubt that many illegal immigrants receive driver's licenses and other social services.

If there are illegal immigrants with Nevada drivers' licenses, it's only a few, according to Tom Jacobs, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

To secure a license, an illegal immigrant would have to present fraudulent identification documents to DMV workers, he said.

These workers, however, are trained to detect fraudulent documents and they also check Social Security numbers.

In addition, the DMV now uses a facial recognition system to detect whether the applicant previously has acquired a license under different names.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.