Burchett bills crack down on unscrupulous employers who hire illegal aliens

(NASHVILLE, TN) -- The Senate Commerce Committee has approved legislation sponsored by Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) to crack down on those who knowingly hire illegal aliens.  The bill requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to hire nine new investigators, three in each grand division, to investigate employers that hire illegal aliens.  The measure is part of a series of bills introduced by Burchett and other state legislators this year to deal with comprehensive illegal immigration reform in Tennessee.

“In order to truly combat illegal immigration, we must crack down on those employers who knowingly hire them,” Burchett said.  “This bill begins to give us the resources we need to investigate this crime.”

The Commerce Committee also debated a bill sponsored by Burchett that would allow employees who are U.S. citizens, who were terminated by employers in order to hire an illegal immigrant, to have a civil cause of action for wrongful termination in court.  The legislation would apply only if the employer knows the new employee is an illegal alien and if there were no other cause for dismissal.  Action on that bill was deferred for two weeks.

“The vast majority of our state’s employers are very careful and obey the law regarding their hiring practices,” said Burchett.  “This bill is aimed at those unscrupulous employers who knowingly hire illegals for the bottom line, and put their own welfare above that of their fellow citizens.”

“The federal government has failed us on illegal immigration reform,” Burchett concluded.  “These two bills, along with reform measures passed last year and others pending in our General Assembly can at least make a big difference about how we handle illegal immigration within our own state borders.”   

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