By ERIC BRADNER and BRYAN CORBIN, Evansville Courier & Press Statehouse bureau
corbinb@courierpress.com
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana House on Thursday voted to crack down on businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
Some lawmakers said the bill doesn't go far enough while others said illegal immigration is a national issue that's not the state's business.
But they grudgingly passed the bill by a 66-33 vote.
"Even though, in my mind, it is not strict enough," said Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, "it is a first step in cracking down on the 100,000 illegal immigrants that are in the state of Indiana."
The vote Thursday by the Democratic-controlled House now starts the clock on conference-committee negotiations with the Republican-controlled Senate to hammer out a compromise.
The version the House considered, now labeled as Senate Bill 345, contains a modified "three-strikes" provision.
An employer found to be knowingly employing illegal immigrants three times within five years could have its license to conduct business in Indiana revoked. The House version also allows, but does not mandate, that Indiana State Police negotiate an agreement with federal officials so that state troopers could enforce federal immigration laws.
Crouch said that while she agrees with Democrats who called illegal immigration a problem demanding a solution by the federal government, Congress has not passed any such solution, leaving the states to handle it on their own.
Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville, said the Legislature "overstepped our role as state government" by passing the bill.
"It's a poorly crafted piece of legislation," he said. "I'm concerned about the person who has dark skin and dark hair and goes in and applies for a job. They're going to be discriminated against. There's no doubt about it."
Voting yes on the bill were re-presentatives Crouch; Kreg Battles, D-Vincennes; David Crooks, D-Washington; Dennie Oxley, D-English; Russ Stillwell, D-Boonville and Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon.
Voting no were Avery and Rep. Phil Hoy, D-Evansville.
Hoy called the bill possibly the worst bill he's seen pass in four years in the House.
"I know some of my supporters will be angry with me for making this vote, but this is just bad legislation," Hoy said.
He said he blamed his own party for amending the illegal immigration language into Senate Bill 345, rather than letting it stand as its own bill.
Previously, minority House Republicans complained the immigration bill didn't go far enough.
As approved last month by the Senate, the three-strikes immigration bill - then called Senate Bill 335 - would have imposed criminal penalties for those who transport or conceal illegal immigrants for profit.
Employers who knowingly employed three illegal immigrants in 10 years could have lost their business license in court, not an administrative hearing. But employers who attempted to verify an employee's eligibility status using an online federal database, E-Verify, would not face prosecution.
Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, authored the original three-strikes bill. Even though the House changed his bill, he revived the original wording this week by amending it into a different bill, House Bill 1219. That preserves the issue for House-Senate conference committee negotiations before the Legislature adjourns March 14.