Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, is presenting his immigration legislation to the House State Affairs Committee this morning, seeking to penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants by suspending their business licenses. The measure, HB 497, also includes misdemeanor penalties for using false identification to secure employment; and misdemeanor and felony penalties for falsifying records for someone else for employment.  "It's not the intent of this legislation to preclude foreign workers from coming here if they were to come here legally," Hart told the committee. He said he wants to eliminate any incentive for undocumented immigrants to come to Idaho to seek work. "The United States is a magnet for those people, and they're coming across the border in droves," Hart said.

Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, asked Hart why he chose suspending business licenses as his penalty for employers, rather than misdemeanor penalties. "I'm not aware of any licenses that you're supposed to have to grow fruit or that kind of thing," Luker said, adding that he wondered how local prosecutors could keep track of all possible licenses that could be affected. Hart said states are pre-empted from imposing criminal penalties on employers by federal law, and can only act on licenses. "We can only do what Congress has given us the freedom to do," Hart said. Other committee members wondered about the impact on Idaho farmers. "What happens to the farm?" asked Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs. "And in the case of a dairy, what happens to the cows - does the Humane Society come in and milk the cows? We're dealing with reality."