Letter: Employers should sponsor illegal workers

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 | 7:14 a.m.

Regarding the Sun's April 13 story, "Immigration-law provision could affect all business owners":

The proposed worker verification program would require that all business owners submit their employees' names and Social Security numbers to check against two government databases for valid workers' legal status. This can be more easily accomplished by just checking the W2 withholding submittals, which have this information, and not burdening the business with redundant reporting.

The employer can then be notified of any illegal workers and be informed that continued employment of the individual will result in the employer being charged under existing law of knowingly employing an illegal worker. This would solve the illegal problem - if no jobs are available for illegals, none would cross the border and the ones here would return to their home country.

Of course, this is not practicable with our high dependence on this large labor pool. A work permit should be issued for any illegal employee if the employer would offer to sponsor the employee and agree to pay any social services that employee may require for five years, just as currently required for legal immigrants. The sponsorship would place the amnesty and the legal immigrants on an equal footing.

Having the employer sponsor the individual would be a good way to select individuals for eventual citizenship rather than just using a blanket amnesty or an amnesty relating to how long they've been in the United States.

Henry Schmid, Las Vegas