Congress made the determination that only employers with 15 or more employees would be covered. It was a deliberate determination. The Hawkins amendment. by permitting the Immigration Board to hear complaints of unfair treatment filed against persons employing more than three individuals would. effectively eliminate this exemption. Under H.R. 1510. theefore. "mom and pop" companies would not only be subject to criminal sandtions for violation of immigration laws. they would have to defend themselves against employment discrimination claims as well. The Hawkins amendment would now make unlawful employment discrimination on the basis of national origin applicable to employers of between 4 and 14 employees. It would do this without hearings and in doing so. would move the determination to make such civil rights decisions away from EEOC to a newly created Immigration Board. This Board will have no expertise in the area of employment discrimination. Its main job will be to make employer sanction determinations. but the amendment imposes on it the additional burden of making employment discrimination decisions. The Immigration Board should be making decisions which reflect its area of expertiseimmigration. The EEOC should be making discrimination determinations. If some feel that the EEOC only cares about race and sex claims. then steps should be taken to deal with that problem.
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