WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require employers to check off on the legal status of the workers they employ.  Falsifying a tax record is a serious crime, punishable as a felony, substantially increasing the opportunity to prosecute employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

“We have to remove the biggest incentive to illegal immigration – a paying job.  Not only do illegal workers displace Americans who really want to do these construction and service jobs, but they are ignoring federal immigration laws,” Emerson said.  “In order to get serious about the illegal immigration problem, we have to start enforcing laws that deter the hiring of undocumented workers.”

Emerson says the legislation is designed to enable prosecutors to go after companies with felony charges for perjury on tax forms rather than depending on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“This is a bigger problem in many ways than securing the border.  We have communities in Southern Missouri where illegal workforces are a problem.  When they get picked up or get into trouble, they simply move on to another community in another county or another state.  We have to dry up the jobs, dry up the money, and partner that effort with stricter enforcement of the immigration laws already on our books,” Emerson said.

“American businesses have an obligation every time they hire someone to check identification, Social Security numbers or work visas.  Ignoring that responsibility hurts our communities and it hurts our economy.  Ultimately it hurts our country. 

Under my bill, prosecutors can pursue felony charges in these cases.  We have to break the impasse between an illegal workforce of millions in the U.S. and lightly-enforced federal laws against hiring undocumented workers.”

The bill, called the Legal Employment Check Off Act of 2010 adds a check box to employer tax returns stating that the employer did not knowingly employ anyone in the United States during the taxable year who is not authorized in accordance with federal law to be employed in the United States.

“I think it’s pretty clear.  Employers must be diligent in their hiring practices,” Emerson said.