Sanctions for Hiring Illegal Aliens Delayed

Responding to complaints of widespread misunderstandings about the new immigration law, the Immigration and Naturalization Service announced Thursday that it will delay by a month the sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

The announcement came as the Senate voted 48 to 45 to delay the penalties even further--until Oct. 1. The sanctions, beginning with a one-year period in which only warnings will be issued, were to go into effect on June 1. The sanctions include a sentence of up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for each illegal worker on an employer’s payroll.

Aims at Fairness

INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson, who announced the agency’s action in a letter to the immigration law’s chief sponsor, Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), said: “We want employers to feel we’re being fair” before beginning enforcement measures.

“What’s going to make this bill work is voluntary compliance,” Nelson said in an interview. “American employers have to support it to make it work.”

INS spokesman Gregory J. Leo stressed that employers should not get the idea “that they will not have to comply with sanctions at some point.”

The chances of longer postponement are uncertain. The Senate’s delay provision was attached to a catchall spending bill on which action is to be completed next week. The House has already passed a version of the spending bill that does not include any such measure, so the disparity would have to be resolved in a joint conference.

Pressure to put off the sanctions has mounted in recent weeks because of delays in the INS educational campaign on the provisions of the new law.

INS had planned to issue several million informational handbooks some time ago, but snags developed and they have not yet been printed.

“We would see additional confusion and discriminatory behavior” by employers if sanctions were not delayed to allow more education, Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) said in a statement after the vote.

Schedule ‘Too Ambitious’

“The simple fact is that the schedule adopted by Congress was just too ambitious,” said Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.).

But immigration service officials denied they have been lax in getting the word out to employers. “We’ve had 1,000 public meetings, five major press conferences, hundreds of public appearances,” Leo said. “There has been plenty of information.”

Supporters of a delay have complained that surveys indicate many employers do not fully understand the law. They said they fear some businesses will fire or turn away foreign-born employees or job candidates even if they are not illegal aliens.

Besides toughening enforcement of immigration requirements, the new law offers legal residency to most illegal aliens who have lived in this country almost continuously for the last five years.

Simpson’s Argument

In arguing against the Senate provision, Simpson said the long postponement “would imply that Congress did not really intend to stop illegal immigration” and could undermine support for the legalization program, which has been controversial in many parts of the country.

“We’re not going to get the job done if (we) back up now on our commitment” to enforce the sanctions, said Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), who was a leading opponent of the amnesty program.

Leo agreed. “Information that we’re not enforcing sanctions would be a magnet to draw illegal immigrants into this country. It’s entirely the wrong signal to send.”