The Job of Business is to Employ Workers, Not to be Immigration Law Enforcers

The Republican Anti-Business Crusade Continues

It is not often that The Dismal Political Economist find himself in agreement with the Tea Party on an issue (ok, it’s almost never).  However on a proposed law that would require employers to “e-Verify” their that their employees are in the United States legally and are legally able to work, he is in agreement with Tea Party opposition.

The bill, by Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R., Texas), would require all employers to use E-Verify, an electronic government database that checks whether new hires are eligible to work in the U.S.

The surprise is that there is opposition to the legislation from the Tea Party

Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation . . . , said that his movement strongly opposed illegal immigration but that "it's not private enterprise's job to enforce immigration

That has it exactly right.  Many Conservatives want private citizens and businesses to enforce the immigration laws.  They want landlords to check the immigration status of people they rent to, and to be criminally liable if they rent to illegal aliens.  They want businesses to be responsible for determining if a prospective employee is in the country legally, and be subject to criminal prosecution even if they were unable to determine the status of an employee.

The “E-Verify” system, a data base of everyone in this country legally is not the answer.  The system is not 100% reliable, and mostly what it does is encourage identify theft. Imagine a person whose identity is stolen going through the process of trying to get things right, and then imagine how much greater is the likelihood of identity theft and false identities if the E-Verify system is required.

If a person is in the country illegally, that is the fault of government law enforcement.  It is part of the police powers of government to control illegal immigration.  Businesses are not law enforcement officers, everyone pays taxes to have government provide law enforcement.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R, Oh) took this courageous (?) position.

Asked about House Speaker John Boehner's position on the bill, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner (R., Ohio) said, "We will review the legislation after the committee passes it."

Thanks Mr. Speaker, we can always count on you to do the political thing, can’t we.