Expert says immigration shift is near Lawyer is warning businesses By BRENT BURKEY Craig Trebilcock's jaw nearly bounced off his table. After years of rhetoric on immigration and talk of tough new laws, the ramped-up enforcement he heard in Orlando, Fla., would actually have teeth and affect most businesses in York County. And he didn't hear it from speculating lawyers. He heard it from federal Department of Homeland Security representatives who addressed the American Immigration Lawyers Association at this spring's conference. What they said is the department is hiring hundreds of new agents and using bold new tactics - including sending illegal immigrants, discovered during routine traffic stops, into businesses wearing wires - to enforce existing immigration law. They also will enforce the criminal penalties for the improper filling out of I-9 forms, part of the basis of today's worker verification system. Those I-9 forms sounded particularly troublesome, Trebilcock told the newly formed Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central Pennsylvania during a seminar earlier this month. He made the address to get the word out about what he called major changes coming down the road. About three of every four businesses he audits paperwork for throughout central Pennsylvania would fail the standards put forth by the government. Whether something isn't signed or filled out properly, it means a human resources professional could go to jail. The "yawn" issue of immigration in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, would become more of a gulp issue, he said. Representatives from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington did not return repeated inquiries for comment during the past two weeks about workplace enforcement practices or any changes. Worried, not surprised About a dozen members or prospective members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central Pennsylvania heard Trebilcock's message with some worry, but not necessarily surprise. Fidelia Friedman, a board member for the chamber and a driving force behind its founding, said one of the reasons the chamber formed was to address the immigration issue. For Hispanic-owned businesses, a possible crackdown on immigration isn't feared as much from a workforce perspective as a customer perspective, said Gustavo Rico, another board member. Rico said Hispanic-owned businesses cater heavily to immigrants or guest workers who have family in other countries. Immigration crackdowns scare people who are here legally, Rico said. It takes only one paperwork shuffle or computer glitch, and they fear they will be quickly caught and deported, Trebilcock said. Also, they feel they are being watched for their connection to people who would want to come into the United States. "They don't come out and consume as much," Rico said. Trebilcock took a detour into immigration law after his involvement in the Golden Venture case, in which Chinese nationals were found in a beached ship off of Queens, N.Y. Around 150 of them were housed in York County Prison for years. Some 31 were let out of prison in 1997 and walked into an immigration-law limbo that continues to this day. Trebilcock now specializes in the field of immigration law with Shumaker and Williams, P.C. in York, where he's seen the receiving end of proposed new laws and enforcement over the past few years. He particularly serves businesses looking to limit their impact. A new system Trebilcock said a planned electronic verification system for someone's right to work would be a same-day, authorize-or deny-system based on a massive federal database of names. It's kind of like someone showing up on a terrorist watch list by mistake, but this time, a person does not get a job instead of just missing an airplane flight until the misunderstanding is settled. "You will have people here legally who won't be able to get a job," Trebilcock said. "People are going to be suing people over this." In the middle could be a company that isn't knowingly doing anything wrong. Burden of proof is also an issue, Trebilcock said. A disgruntled employee making threats as he or she is going out the door is now something to worry about, he said. For example, a disgruntled employee might call ICE and say he or she believes a company has illegal immigrants working there. Before, there weren't enough enforcement officers to follow up on such calls. But if and when that changes, investigators could show up with no other probable cause than that. Then they find an unsigned I-9 form, and trouble ensues. Not all the changes are bad, though, Trebilcock said. The I-9 system is a poor way to manage who is in this country illegally, so an electronic verification system of some kind is "probably a good development." "The I-9 system is completely broken," Trebilcock said. He said companies could expect the updated, improved system of enforcement to be up and running by the end of the year or early in 2008. Gabriela Sanchez, a member of the Hispanic community in York, said the issue would hit home with the many Hispanic-owned small businesses in York. She went to the seminar to take information back to the community in York and looks forward to more like it in the future. Friedman said seminars discussing issues affecting the Hispanic business community are planned for Lancaster, Lebanon and York. |