[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4038 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4038

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve enforcement of 
restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 7, 2005

Mr. Gonzalez (for himself and Mr. Reyes) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
   to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve enforcement of 
restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Unlawful Employers Accountability 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Current efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigrants 
        crossing into the United States have fallen far short of need.
            (2) The number of illegal immigrants currently in the 
        United States is approximating 11 million.
            (3) Cities, counties, and States are forced to absorb the 
        costs of illegal immigration without compensation from the 
        Federal Government or employers.
            (4) United States companies continue to recruit and hire 
        illegal immigrants and thereby aid in the erosion of the border 
        security of the United States.
            (5) The hiring of illegal immigrants has had a negative 
        impact on the employment opportunities of legal immigrants and 
        United States citizens.
            (6) Federal law expressly prohibits the hiring of illegal 
        immigrants.
            (7) In 2004, only three United States companies were cited 
        for hiring illegal immigrants.

SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE WITH RESPECT TO THE UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.

    (a) Civil Penalty.--Paragraph (4) of subsection (e) of section 274A 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(4) Cease and desist order with civil money penalty for 
        hiring, recruiting, and referral violations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--With respect to a violation by 
                any person or other entity of subsection (a)(1)(A) or 
                (a)(2), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
                require the person or entity to cease and desist from 
                such violations and to pay a civil penalty in the 
                amount specified in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Amount of civil penalty.--A civil penalty 
                under this paragraph shall not be less than $50,000 for 
                each occurrence of a violation described in subsection 
                (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) with respect to the alien referred 
                to in such subsection, plus, in the event of the 
                removal of such alien from the United States based on 
                findings developed in connection with the assessment or 
                collection of such penalty, the costs incurred by the 
                Federal Government, cooperating State and local 
                governments, and State and local law enforcement 
                agencies, in connection with such removal.
                    ``(C) Distribution of penalties to state and local 
                governments.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Penalties collected 
                        under this paragraph from a person or entity 
                        shall be distributed as follows:
                                    ``(I) 25 percent of such amount 
                                shall be distributed to the State in 
                                which the person or entity is located.
                                    ``(II) 25 percent of such amount 
                                shall be distributed to the county in 
                                which the person or entity is located.
                                    ``(III) 25 percent of such amount 
                                shall be distributed to the 
                                municipality, if any, in which the 
                                person or entity is located, or, in the 
                                absence of such a municipality, to the 
                                county described in subclause (II).
                    ``(D) Limitation on use of funds.--Amounts paid to 
                a State, county, or municipality under subparagraph (C) 
                may only be used for costs incurred by such State, 
                county, or municipality in providing public services to 
                aliens not lawfully present in the United States.
                    ``(E) Distinct, physically separate subdivisions.--
                In applying this subsection in the case of a person or 
                other entity composed of distinct, physically separate 
                subdivisions each of which provides separately for the 
                hiring, recruiting, or referring for employment, 
                without reference to the practices of, and not under 
                the control of or common control with, another 
                subdivision, each such subdivision shall be considered 
                a separate person or other entity.''.
    (b) Denial of Agricultural Assistance for Violators.--Such section 
is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Denial of Agricultural Assistance for Violators.--In the case 
of a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) by an agricultural 
association, agricultural employer, or farm labor contractor (as 
defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 
Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1802)), such association, employer, or 
contractor shall be ineligible for agricultural assistance described in 
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 1211(a) of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811(a)) for a period not to exceed five 
years.''.
    (c) Good Faith Defense.--
            (1) In general.--Such section is further amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (a)(3); and
                    (B) by striking subsection (b)(6).
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Such section is further 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ``paragraphs 
                (1)(B) and (3)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(B)''; 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
                        by striking ``paragraphs (1)(B) and (3)'' and 
                        inserting ``paragraph (1)(B)''; and
                            (ii) by striking paragraph (6).
    (d) Employee Whistleblower Protection.--It shall be unlawful for 
any employer, including an employer primarily engaged in agriculture, 
or any labor contractor to intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, 
retaliate, discharge, demote, or in any other manner discriminate 
against an employee or former employee, regardless of the immigration 
status of such employee or former employee, because such employee or 
former employee--
            (1) has disclosed, is disclosing, or seeks to disclose to 
        Federal, State, or local law enforcement authorities 
        information related to a violation of an applicable Federal 
        labor law as defined by the Secretary of Labor; or
            (2) has cooperated, is cooperating, or seeks to cooperate 
        in an investigation or other proceeding concerning compliance 
        with such an applicable Federal labor law.
    (e) Disclosure Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
        establish, maintain, and regularly update a publicly accessible 
        website that contains a list of persons or other entities that 
        the Secretary has determined to have been in violation of 
        subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) of section 274A of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) in the 
        preceding five years.
            (2) Contents of website.--Such website shall contain, with 
        respect to each such person or entity, the following 
        information:
                    (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the 
                person or entity.
                    (B) The names of the owners, chief executive 
                officers, or other similar officers of the person or 
                entity.
                    (C) The number of unauthorized aliens (as defined 
                in subsection (h)(3) of such section) found to be 
                employed by the person or entity.
                    (D) The aggregate dollar amount that the person or 
                entity has received in the preceding five years under 
                any Federal contract.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), 
and (c) shall take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act and shall apply to violations occurring on or after such 
effective date.
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