3-22 IAN Op-Ed Immigrant Labor

 The legislative session in Idaho has at least come to some terms with immigration. I’m David Sparks and we’ll have that story in a minute. The one thing Americans in general are concerned about and has polarized Idahoans specifically is illegal immigration. The man on the street typically is opposed to immigrants with comments such as they take jobs away from Americans, they abuse the health and education systems, don’t pay taxes, trends toward higher crime rates and the like.

 Hold on cowboy…if you’re a cowboy, or a farmer or a dairyman. Immigrant workers are the only people who have demonstrated the desire or ability to do some of the hard labor jobs that go along with agriculture. So a lot of folks in the ag community want migrant, or immigrant workers in their businesses.

 But legislators are listening to their constituencies and some, like Sen. Mike Jorgensen, R-Hayden Lake, introduced legislation that would require all businesses to e-verify meaning use an electronic verification system when hiring and would deny public benefits to undocumented immigrants. Jorgensen says illegal immigrants cost the state $200 million per year. Jorgenson’s bill didn’t pass A measure approved 6-1 by the Senate State Affairs committee Friday would make creating false documents a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The bill also gives employers who accept fake identification a lighter punishment.