Rep. Bradley Targets Illegal Immigration

March 8, 2011                                                               

(State House, Boston) – Representative Garrett J. Bradley, D-Hingham, is again pushing for passage of legislation to target businesses that employ undocumented workers in Massachusetts.  The bill, House No. 2286, is a re-file of similar legislation proposed in the previous session.

The legislation amends state labor laws by requiring that businesses found to be employing such workers be closed and padlocked for a period of 30 days.  Such a closure would allow authorities to investigate the situation and make recommendations for further civil or criminal action.

“While thousands of businesses across Massachusetts follow the laws governing employment of U.S. citizens and legal residents, a handful of companies fail to check the identities and work status of their employees.  This illegal behavior cheats the taxpayers and law-abiding businesses, and must be prevented,” said Rep. Bradley.

The legislation was inspired in part by recent cases in which companies have been caught employing illegal, undocumented immigrant workers.  In March 2007, for example, a company in New Bedford was raided by local, state and federal authorities for employing 361 illegal immigrants.

Rep. Bradley voted against a proposal that would have allowed children of illegal immigrants to receive the in-state tuition discount.  He also voted in favor of stronger provisions in the state budget that requires the state Department of Transitional Assistance, Mass Health and Department of Unemployment Assistance to use the federal citizenship verification system.  For example, the Department of Transitional Assistance was instructed to use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE system to verify the immigration status of any noncitizen whose documentation includes an alien registration number to determine whether the individual meets noncitizen requirements for benefit eligibility purposes and shall verify the Social Security number of each individual seeking benefits, citizens as well as noncitizens, in accordance with procedures established by the Social Security Administration.  The agency is also required to refer all credible reports of fraud received from its fraud hotline or any other source to the Bureau of Special Investigations for investigation.

“Illegal immigration continues to a major problem in this country and we cannot wait for the federal government to act,” said Rep. Bradley.  “We must take proactive steps on the state level and this bill would do just that.”