Immigration On My Mind

Following the recent election, President Obama and leaders in Congress have said on many occasions that immigration reform is going to be one of the top priorities for this Congress. Now to be sure, they have plenty of other things to take care of but it seems that the time may actually be close to get something done on this.

For years there have been proposals that attempted to address the problems of a broken immigration program particularly for agriculture. Many of these proposals were band-aids on the H2A program and some were actually more of a comprehensive approach. Even the “comprehensive immigration reform” just attempted to “fix” the H2A program. None of these passed and the only option for agriculture is still a very non-functioning H2A. Continue reading

Ala., Ga. farmers adjust planting after immigration crackdown – USATODAY.com

USATODAY posted an article recently outlining the issues agriculture could face in light of the immigration laws passed in Georgia and Alabama in 2011. This is article looks at the possibilities of farmers moving crops around in order to reduce the labor needs for the next year or two. Most still aren’t sure about how much of a shortage there may be in
coming months around planting and harvest but many aren’t willing to bet a lot on ample Continue reading

>Alabama Immigration Webinar Tomorrow

>The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries is sponsoring a webinar tomorrow, Friday, October  14th from 10am to 1pm CDT. The webinar will cover many topics in a bit of detail.

1. Do’s and Don’t for employers under the new immigration law.
2. Enrollment in the E-Verify
3. I-9 Supervisor Training and tips.

In short this webinar will cover EVERYTHING you need to know about hiring new employees in Alabama. It looks to be a very comprehensive webinar.

The webinar will originate at the extension headquarters in Auburn and there are several options to view the webinar. The first is to contact your local extension office. Most are going to be carrying the webinar live, but check before going over to the office.

The second way to view is to go to http://www.aces.edu/go/195. This link will be live approximately 9:45 the day of the webinar. You can test your browser and connection early by going to http://www.aces.edu/go/148. This is for testing only not the webinar itself.

Finally. The webinar will be archived and will be viewable at any time at the same http://www.aces.edu/go/195 site. This will stay up for some time.

We understand this is a very busy time for most ginners but we hope you will take the time to watch the webinar and we’d like to thank the Department and Extension for putting this webinar on for agriculture.

Dusty

>Judge Upholds MOST of Alabama Immigration Law

>Federal Court Judge Blackburn upheld nearly all of the immigration legislation passed in Montgomery earlier this year. The judge’s 115 page ruling came as no surprise to most who have followed similar bills in other states but Alabama’s law will still be one of the most severe in the country.

Most of the provisions dealing with employment law (the part that will really affect our members) was not even challenged. So, as of the starting date of the new law (September 1, 2011) there are now
tougher sanctions for continuing to knowingly employ illegal aliens and as of April 1, 2012, all employers in Alabama must enroll in E-Verify or use the state department of Homeland Security’s service to check all new hires.

The sections of the law that were challenged but allowed to continue were those dealing with the checking of legal status by authorities such as when enrolling in school or being pulled over by the police. She even upheld the sections dealing with holding illegal aliens without bond as well as sections making contracts with illegal aliens null and void by prohibiting courts from enforcing those contracts as well as several other provisions.

There were only four provisions that did were blocked by the court. The first was a section making it illegal to apply for a job if you’re an illegal alien. The second was making it a crime for harboring or transporting illegal aliens. This is very similar to several other state’s laws and if this withstands appeals tests, could have a significant effect on many other states. The third provision blocked was one that made it illegal to deduct wages paid to illegal aliens on your taxes. Finally, the new law provided a way for citizens to file discrimination suits against a company who used illegal workers to displace legal workers.  That provision was also blocked.

All-in-all, a few surprises but not a lot. The most concern we’ve heard were those provisions dealing with E-Verify and employment of illegal aliens. Most of those provisions were not even challenged so it would have been a huge surprise of something had changed there. We will continue to monitor the situation and let you know if things change.

There are two good write-ups on the judge’s ruling on WSFA-TV’s site and on ALFA’s site. You can follow those links by clicking on their names above. We’d like to hear if there are labor shortages out there. Please email us if you are having trouble finding labor what you’ve had to do to fix the situation.

Dusty

>NC and SC Immigration Summary Posted by Law Firm

>The law firm of Nexen Pruet has posted a very good summary of the newly enacted employment law changes (Immigration Refrom) recently passed and signed by the governors of North Carolina and South Carolina. Both of the states have their own requirements on employers but are very different. The summary can be found on their website at http://www.nexsenpruet.com/assets/attachments/721.pdf . This firm also has other good information for employers on their website.

Dusty

>Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Immigration Law

>The US Supreme Court, Thursday, upheld portions of an Arizona law aimed at employers that hire illegal immigrants. The 5-3 split decision agreed that the state had the right to sanction employers who hire illegals by revoking or banning them from obtaining business licenses or partnership certificates. This is a key element in many state laws that have recently been passed or are currently under consideration.

The Arizona law that was challenged, required employers to use the federal E-Verify program when hiring all employees. If an employer was found to not be using this system and/or knowingly hired illegals, they could lose their business license or partnership certificate. This is what has become to be known as the business “death penalty”. The penalty has been used very few times because it is very difficult to prove the employer “knowingly” hired the illegal alien.

The opponents to the law were arguing that the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) passed in 1986 superseded the state’s ability to control immigration and employer sanctions. IRCA specifically says that states can’t regulate the employer employee relationship except by through licensing laws. This exemption has been the focus of many state laws… including the one recently passed in Georgia and the bills being considered in SC and AL.

A more controversial law in Arizona will likely see its way to the Supreme Court at some point in the future. This is the law that requires state and local law enforcement to question the legality of the residence of a person when the officer suspects they are not legally in the country. This provision is also a key in many states laws meant to control illegal immigration.

Yesterday’s ruling will likely ramp up states to make their own immigration rules and create a patchwork of various rules and regulations across the country. Each state has the potential to make its own variations on a theme and have nuances that will make businesses pull their hair out when trying to operate in various states.

In attempting to better help our industry comply with the newly signed Georgia law, Southeastern Cotton Ginners is sponsoring a webinar put on by the law firm of Fisher and Phillips in June. This will be limited to Georgia gins and details are still pending. An email will be sent to GA gins with details and reservations.

More information on the Supreme Court decision can be found here. Please let us know if you have any questions.