Unlawful Employers Accountability Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act respecting unlawful employment of alien provisions to: (1) require the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a cease and desist order, replace the tiered civil penalty provisions with a single, increased-maximum civil penalty, and require an employer to pay the costs incurred in any related removal of an alien from the United States; (2) provide for penalty distribution to state, county, and municipal governments, which shall be used to provide illegal aliens with public services; (3) deny specified agricultural assistance for up to five years to an agricultural employer, contractor, or association in violation of such provisions; (4) eliminate specified good faith defenses; (4) provide whistleblower protection; and (5) direct the Secretary to establish and update a publicly accessible website containing specified information on violators of such provisions in the preceding five years.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4038 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4038
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve enforcement of
restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 7, 2005
Mr. Gonzalez (for himself and Mr. Reyes) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition
to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve enforcement of
restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Unlawful Employers Accountability
Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Current efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigrants
crossing into the United States have fallen far short of need.
(2) The number of illegal immigrants currently in the
United States is approximating 11 million.
(3) Cities, counties, and States are forced to absorb the
costs of illegal immigration without compensation from the
Federal Government or employers.
(4) United States companies continue to recruit and hire
illegal immigrants and thereby aid in the erosion of the border
security of the United States.
(5) The hiring of illegal immigrants has had a negative
impact on the employment opportunities of legal immigrants and
United States citizens.
(6) Federal law expressly prohibits the hiring of illegal
immigrants.
(7) In 2004, only three United States companies were cited
for hiring illegal immigrants.
SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE WITH RESPECT TO THE UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.
(a) Civil Penalty.--Paragraph (4) of subsection (e) of section 274A
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended to
read as follows:
``(4) Cease and desist order with civil money penalty for
hiring, recruiting, and referral violations.--
``(A) In general.--With respect to a violation by
any person or other entity of subsection (a)(1)(A) or
(a)(2), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
require the person or entity to cease and desist from
such violations and to pay a civil penalty in the
amount specified in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Amount of civil penalty.--A civil penalty
under this paragraph shall not be less than $50,000 for
each occurrence of a violation described in subsection
(a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) with respect to the alien referred
to in such subsection, plus, in the event of the
removal of such alien from the United States based on
findings developed in connection with the assessment or
collection of such penalty, the costs incurred by the
Federal Government, cooperating State and local
governments, and State and local law enforcement
agencies, in connection with such removal.
``(C) Distribution of penalties to state and local
governments.--
``(i) In general.--Penalties collected
under this paragraph from a person or entity
shall be distributed as follows:
``(I) 25 percent of such amount
shall be distributed to the State in
which the person or entity is located.
``(II) 25 percent of such amount
shall be distributed to the county in
which the person or entity is located.
``(III) 25 percent of such amount
shall be distributed to the
municipality, if any, in which the
person or entity is located, or, in the
absence of such a municipality, to the
county described in subclause (II).
``(D) Limitation on use of funds.--Amounts paid to
a State, county, or municipality under subparagraph (C)
may only be used for costs incurred by such State,
county, or municipality in providing public services to
aliens not lawfully present in the United States.
``(E) Distinct, physically separate subdivisions.--
In applying this subsection in the case of a person or
other entity composed of distinct, physically separate
subdivisions each of which provides separately for the
hiring, recruiting, or referring for employment,
without reference to the practices of, and not under
the control of or common control with, another
subdivision, each such subdivision shall be considered
a separate person or other entity.''.
(b) Denial of Agricultural Assistance for Violators.--Such section
is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i) Denial of Agricultural Assistance for Violators.--In the case
of a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) by an agricultural
association, agricultural employer, or farm labor contractor (as
defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker
Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1802)), such association, employer, or
contractor shall be ineligible for agricultural assistance described in
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 1211(a) of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811(a)) for a period not to exceed five
years.''.
(c) Good Faith Defense.--
(1) In general.--Such section is further amended--
(A) by striking subsection (a)(3); and
(B) by striking subsection (b)(6).
(2) Conforming amendments.--Such section is further
amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ``paragraphs
(1)(B) and (3)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(B)'';
and
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
by striking ``paragraphs (1)(B) and (3)'' and
inserting ``paragraph (1)(B)''; and
(ii) by striking paragraph (6).
(d) Employee Whistleblower Protection.--It shall be unlawful for
any employer, including an employer primarily engaged in agriculture,
or any labor contractor to intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce,
retaliate, discharge, demote, or in any other manner discriminate
against an employee or former employee, regardless of the immigration
status of such employee or former employee, because such employee or
former employee--
(1) has disclosed, is disclosing, or seeks to disclose to
Federal, State, or local law enforcement authorities
information related to a violation of an applicable Federal
labor law as defined by the Secretary of Labor; or
(2) has cooperated, is cooperating, or seeks to cooperate
in an investigation or other proceeding concerning compliance
with such an applicable Federal labor law.
(e) Disclosure Requirements.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
establish, maintain, and regularly update a publicly accessible
website that contains a list of persons or other entities that
the Secretary has determined to have been in violation of
subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) of section 274A of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) in the
preceding five years.
(2) Contents of website.--Such website shall contain, with
respect to each such person or entity, the following
information:
(A) The name, address, and telephone number of the
person or entity.
(B) The names of the owners, chief executive
officers, or other similar officers of the person or
entity.
(C) The number of unauthorized aliens (as defined
in subsection (h)(3) of such section) found to be
employed by the person or entity.
(D) The aggregate dollar amount that the person or
entity has received in the preceding five years under
any Federal contract.
(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b),
and (c) shall take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act and shall apply to violations occurring on or after such
effective date.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
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