Penalties of this magnitude are not merely a deterrent. they would make almost every violation into a capital offense. And I thought the Democrats were against the death penalty. Let me say first that the underlying legislation already dramatically increases the civil penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens or who fail to comply with the Employment Eligibility Verification System. I did this because current penalties are so low they are not a deterrent. This bill raises penalties for firsttime offenses from $250 to $2.000 per alien for a firsttime offense to not less than $5.000 per alien. penalties for secondtime offenses are raised to no less than $10.000 per alien. and for employers with two or more previous offenses the penalty is not less than $250.000 per alien. The penalty levels in this bill are quite sufficient to act as a deterrent for employers who might otherwise hire illegal aliens or ignore the verification requirements. In fact. they have been attacked by practically every employer association in Washington. The amendment goes just too far in order to make a political point. thus it is not a serious amendment. The amendment designates the proceeds of the penalties to States and localities. which would be required to use the funds to provide services to illegal aliens. When penalties are funneled back in this matter. it sets up an incentive to use immigration as a fundraiser for States and localities. That should not be the goal. We should not be using Federal funds to pay for services to illegal aliens. Money collected from civil penalties should be deposited into the Treasury. Mr.
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illegal aliens immigration