Business leaders criticize state immigration laws

WASHINGTON — Some 1,600 state immigration-related bills have been introduced in the absence of federal legislation, leaving businesses confused by conflicting mandates and still without a reliable work force, business leaders complained Friday.

The requirements’ costs in the 244 enacted laws could force some small businesses to shut down or pass along the costs to consumers, said Jerry Howard, CEO and executive vice president of the National Association of Home Builders.

State officials, business owners and immigration experts discussed how state immigration laws are affecting the economy and businesses at a forum sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Home Builders and the National Roofing Contractors Association.

“We believe the states and localities should resist this short-term deal,” said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A law in Arizona sanctions employers who hire illegal immigrant workers, but a law in Illinois prohibits employers from using a federal system known as E-Verify to determine whether employees can legally work in the U.S., several in attendance noted. Such conflicts are confounding for multistate companies, they said.

Mark Woodall with the Associated General Contractors in Georgia said local ordinances requiring immediate firing of employees who may be illegal immigrants have employers worried about violating federal laws.

State lawmakers believe they have to do something in the vacuum of federal laws.

“We are not necessarily saying any one state law is better than the next. We are saying there are so many, that are diverse and address so many issues, it’s time for the federal government to have immigration reform that the states can then follow,” said Michelle Blackston, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Business leaders also complained of losing workers, increasing wages and being held accountable for hiring of illegal immigrants by subcontractors. Several warned of coming economic repercussions.

Glenn Hamer, president and CEO for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said businesses are feeling threatened as broadly written laws are passed intending to root out employers who hire undocumented workers.

Such laws are spreading “like infectious diseases” state to state and locality to locality and “will do a great amount of destruction to the U.S. economy,” Hamer said.

Greg Simmons, president of Simmons Homes, a Tulsa, Okla. homebuilder, said a law that took effect Nov. 1 in his state cost him 20 percent of his work force over two weekends before it went into effect.

Simmons said his state’s housing market still is viable, but he’s unable to do his usual three- to five-year advance business planning because his future labor pool is so uncertain. Lawmakers who drafted the law failed to consider his need to plan ahead, he said.

Instead the law was based on the cost of unpaid medical bills, crime rates and emotions about “those people,” he said. Simmons said he expects Oklahoma will lose workers to states like Kansas and Texas that do not have similar laws.