By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- Last month, state lawmakers postponed a hearing on an immigration bill that would create a 24-hour hotline to report unlawful employment of illegal immigrants and violations of state fair wage laws.
The Act to Promote Fair Employment and Security would also penalize the use of false identification to obtain employment. Violators of this clause would be subject to a $5,000 fine and up to five years imprisonment. Sen. Bruce E. Tarr (R-Gloucester) is the bill's lead sponsor.
Officials at the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Coalition opposed the bill, calling it anti-immigrant.
"We are not supportive of Senate bill 1010, because we think it will have a negative effect on the immigrant community," said Carly Burton, a spokeswoman for the coalition. "It will also undermine public safety, hurt workers and lead to discrimination and racial profiling."
Co-sponsored by Senators Richard R. Tisei (R-Wakefield), Michael R. Knapik (R-Westfield) and Robert L. Hedlund (R-Weymouth), the bill would also increase penalties for people who mass produce fake identification cards or documents and would require contractors to verify the Social Security numbers of their employees.
A similar bill was filed late in 2006. In 2007, Tarr sponsored an amendment to the budget that would have established the 24-hour hotline.
Tarr's amendment to the 2007 budget and his bill includes a clause that authorizes and directs the Attorney General to collaborate with the US Attorney General to enforce federal immigration laws.
"This would significantly hurt the Attorney General's credibility in immigrant communities and would strongly deter all immigrant workers, including those with legal work authorization, from filing complaints - taking the heat off employers engaged in criminal violations of the commonwealth's wage and hour laws," the coalition said in a fact sheet for the 2007 budget amendment.
The coalition also said the bill would undermine the Attorney General's ability to enforce wage and hour laws, create an easily abused system, expose employers to negative publicity and open the hotline to anonymous and unsubstantiated calls.
"My bill would level the playing field and make things fair for every employee and employer who follows the rules," Tarr said.