A bill introduced in the Indiana Senate last week seeks to do what the federal government, for the most part, has not: enforce immigration laws intended to identify and remove undocumented workers and residents.
The primary author of the bill is Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, although an additional 22 additional senators from Evansville to Valparaiso have signed on as co-authors since Jan. 10. The proposed legislation would target employers of undocumented workers as well as undocumented residents themselves.
"This issue comes up pretty regularly at my town meetings," said Delph, who reports the subject of illegal immigration to be second to property tax relief in his district.
"The federal government has not fulfilled its obligation and duty to protect its borders. There's been a tremendous erosion of respect for the rule of law in this country, and federal immigration law is a poster child for that," Delph said.
Echoing current federal immigration laws, the bill prohibits employers from knowingly hiring an undocumented worker. It requires businesses to verify work authorization and to notify federal, state and local authorities if a worker is discovered to be working in the U.S. illegally and to fire the employee in question. Businesses found in violation of the law could have their licenses to operate in the state revoked.
The twist is that the Indiana Attorney General's office would be obliged follow up on any allegation that an employer is in violation of the law or that a worker is unauthorized.
Based on the estimated number of 55,000 to 85,000 illegal immigrants in the state put forth by the Pew Hispanic Center, the bill for the increased responsibilities of the department would be $265,000 to $465,000 in the first year.
Transporting an undocumented person would become a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by jail time, which is also a part of rarely enforced federal immigration law.
Under the proposal in the state Senate, however, Indiana Code would be amended to require designated law officers in the state to be trained and authorized to act as federal agents and to make immigration-related arrests previously out of the jurisdiction of local law enforcement.
"I'm not interested in passing a law that has no teeth," Delph said.
The decision as to how many officers in which cities or counties to deputize as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be left up to the superintendent of the state police department.
The Goshen Police Department and mayor took the cross-authorization option under consideration in 2007, but rejected it as an inefficient use of law enforcement manpower and funds.
Delph said that a provision to require hospitals to identify the legal status of patients will be deleted because the Indiana Hospital Association indicated a willingness to initiate such identification to "illuminate to the public the real cost" of treating illegal aliens. The cost is manifested in increased subsidies to public entities like Medicaid and higher premiums for insured health-care clients.
The bill may prove to be a litmus test for whether other state legislators share experience with constituents frustrated about undocumented residents. But the current legislative session is a short one and could be consumed by debate over property tax reform.