Feinstein Introduces Immigration Bill

Focusing increased attention on counterfeit work documents, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced reform legislation Tuesday to cope with “the crisis of illegal immigration in California and throughout the nation.”

The comprehensive bill incorporates many of the current remedies for illegal immigration being discussed on Capitol Hill, including a $1 border-crossing fee that Feinstein first called for nearly two years ago.

But the senator’s new bill also calls for significant increases in civil and criminal penalties for forgers, making document fraud crimes aggravated felonies to speed up deportation procedures.

The measure would also increase penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Under current law, fines range from $250 to $2,000 per undocumented worker hired for a first offense. The Feinstein bill would raise those fines to $1,000 to $3,000.

The legislation calls for the development of a national verification system--advocated by the Commission on Immigration Reform, headed by former Texas Rep. Barbara Jordan--so employers can be certain of a prospective employee’s status.

The bill, called the Illegal Immigration Control and Enforcement Act, would require the Justice Department to hire 2,100 additional Border Patrol agents over the next three years and impose tougher sentences on smugglers, who would be assessed penalties for each illegal immigrant brought into the country.

The measure does not call for reductions in legal immigration. Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), chairman of the immigration subcommittee of which Feinstein is a member, is expected to do so, as is his House counterpart, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.).

In January, Simpson submitted his own immigration reform plan, which Feinstein has not endorsed. But the two bills are similar in many ways, with the Californian’s bill seeking harsher penalties and more Border Patrol agents. “I offer this legislation not to compete with Sen. Simpson’s bill but rather to complement it,” Feinstein said on the Senate floor.

A Feinstein spokesman had no estimate of how much the bill would cost to implement. The $1 border-crossing fee would generate about $400 million a year but would defray only a small part of the anticipated money needed to hire more agents, investigators and equipment called for in the bill.

The Clinton Administration and Smith have dropped the border-crossing fee as being politically unfeasible. Simpson’s bill calls for a fee, but does not specify the amount.