NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Law: Officials Could Report Companies Hiring Illegals

Law: Officials Could Report Companies Hiring Illegals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The state of Tennessee will soon have a brand new tool to crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants.

A new law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2008. If a company violates it, they could be forced out of business.

If a city, county, or state official has good reason to believe a company is hiring illegal immigrants a complaint to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development could spark an investigation.

The state senator who created the bill said this is a different approach to solving the illegal immigration problem.

"Where's the best way to cut off the spigot, if you will, and that is to go to the source of where the dollars flow from, and that is from the employers," said state Sen. Bill Ketron, a Republican from Murfreesboro.

This new law was sparked from the concerns of people such as Springfield City Manager Paul Nutting.

"I think a lot of employers are hiring illegal immigrants," he said.

He was upset with the immigration issue, but never had a place to turn, until now.

"The law provides that we are to investigate if we get a complaint from a state or local governmental agency," said Dan Bailey, general counsel for the state labor department.

In January, local and state leaders can file a complaint with the state labor department.

"If there is some basis for that complaint, then we are to investigate," Bailey said.

That investigation could lead to the first strike, revocation of a business license. When the matter is resolved, license is reinstated.

Ketron said if there a second strike, "then that business or industry loses their business license for a 12-month period, so in essence you are out of business."

Nutting said hiring patterns have changed and affected his community.

"Big corporate America is continuing to make a greater stretch on their profit if they can hire a workforce for a dollar or two bucks an hour less per hour on their entire staff, then they are making more profit," Ketron said.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will only investigate a complaint from a city, county, or state official.

So, if anyone thinks they have a valid complaint against a business, they should contact their local leader first.