Latino Panel Calls for Hiring-Sanction ‘Hit List’ : Politics: Leaders want penalties for employing illegal aliens eliminated. Congressmen who back the current law would be targeted on Election Day.

Latino leaders conceded Sunday that they will lose this year’s drive to remove employer sanctions from the new immigration law, but added they would target for defeat a “hit list” of key members of Congress who refuse to support future repeal legislation.

Addressing the first-ever Hispanic Leadership Roundtable, several speakers said a system of fines levied on employers who hire illegal aliens has led to a pervasive hiring bias against all Latinos who speak with an accent or appear to be foreigners.

Even though the General Accounting Office concluded in a March 29 report that “widespread discrimination” is practiced by an estimated 19% of employers--29% in the Los Angeles area--Congress is balking at repeal of the sanctions under a 30-day escape clause written into the law, the conference was told.

The law provides that Congress can remove the sanctions by passage of a joint resolution within 30 days after the GAO report. If that time period passes without action, sanctions could not be removed without passage of a bill--a much more time-consuming and uncertain process.

But while leaders at the round-table admitted a resolution was unlikely within the 30-day limit, they vowed to keep fighting.

“If we cut a deal and it ain’t kept, then there should be hell raised and hell to pay,” said Andrew Hernandez, director of the Southwest Voter Education Project.

Since an overwhelming number of Latino voters can be expected to oppose sanctions, Hernandez said, it could be made a test for supporting members of Congress seeking reelection this fall.

“We need a hit list of those people in our own back yard--those congressmen who are wavering,” Hernandez said without mentioning anyone who might be placed on such a list.

He urged Latino leaders to demand that their senators and representatives in Congress take a yes or no stand on the issue of sanctions, adding: “That would strike fear and dread into the heart of any politician.”

Charles Kamasaki, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, said the outlook was gloomy for repeal of sanctions this year and perhaps in the next Congress as well.

“The fact is that a lot of people don’t care about discrimination against Hispanics,” Kamasaki said. “There is a view that Hispanics haven’t suffered enough.”

Calling for retaliation at the polls, he added: “We need an acceleration of political activity. This is an election year and we have to make an example of some people.”

Francisco Garcia-Rodriguez, national director of the immigrant rights program for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), said Congress’ refusal to adopt a resolution for quick repeal of employer sanctions did not mean final defeat for Latino organizations.

“It’s just a first skirmish in what we believe will be a prolonged war,” he told a reporter. “The sanctions debate is not going to go away.”

Later, addressing the conference of about 75 national Latino leaders, he opposed legislation that would preserve the sanctions but try to mitigate the impact of discrimination against members of the established Latino community.

“The only logical solution is repeal of this discriminatory statute,” he said. “We are in a position to call people who vote for sanctions racist.”

The issue of sanctions was the most emotional issue discussed at the daylong meeting, called to improve working relationships among Latino groups who occasionally have been at odds over legislative goals.

Representatives from Cuban-American, Puerto Rican and Mexican-American groups attended briefings on major issues and planned to lobby members of Congress and the Bush Administration today.

The Latino leaders--ranging from officials of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials--also discussed ways to increase support for the Civil Rights Act of 1990, legislation to require government set-asides for minority contractors and efforts to increase presidential appointments and rank-and-file federal jobs for Latinos.

While there were no formal votes or resolutions adopted, the conferees agreed to set up a more formal network, or secretariat. One participant’s suggestion for a computerized national data bank of Latino organizations won wide applause.

“I can’t tell you how important this meeting is,” said Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), the only member of Congress who took part in the meeting. “This is really a historic moment for us.”