BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 432 Hearing Date: April 8,
2015
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|Author: |Mendoza |
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|Version: |February 25, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Alma Perez-Schwab |
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Subject: Public works: aliens
KEY ISSUE
Should the outdated and derogatory reference to foreign-born
individuals as "aliens" be repealed from the Labor Code?
ANALYSIS
Under existing law, it is illegal for a person or other entity
to "knowingly" hire, recruit, or refer for employment an
unauthorized individual or any individual without complying with
specified employment verification procedures. Among other
things, the law requires employers to verify that every new hire
is either a U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the United
States. Existing federal law requires that all employers have
new employees complete form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification, upon hire.
Under existing California law , all protections, rights, and
remedies available under state law, except any reinstatement
remedy prohibited by federal law, are available to all
individuals regardless of immigration status who have applied
for employment, or who are or have been employed in the state.
In addition, for purposes of enforcing state labor and
employment laws, a person's immigration status is irrelevant to
the issue of liability or in proceedings, where no inquiry is
permitted into a person's immigration status except where the
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person seeking the inquiry has shown, by clear and convincing
evidence, that the inquiry is necessary in order to comply with
federal immigration law. (Labor Code §1171.5; Civic Code §3339;
Health and Safety Code §24000; Government Code §7285)
Existing law prohibits an employer from engaging in (or
directing another person or entity to engage in) unfair
immigration-related practices against any person for the purpose
of, or with the intent of, retaliating against any person for
exercising any right protected under Labor Code or by any local
ordinance applicable to employees. "Unfair immigration-related
practice" means any of the following practices when undertaken
for retaliatory purposes (Labor Code §1019):
a) Requesting more or different employment verification
documents than are required under law, or refusing to honor
documents that on their face reasonably appear to be
genuine.
b) Using the federal E-Verify system to check the
employment authorization status of a person at a time or in
a manner not required under federal law, or not authorized
under any memorandum of understanding governing the use of
the federal E-Verify system.
c) Threatening to file or the filing of a false police
report, or a false report or complaint with any state or
federal agency.
d) Threatening to contact or contacting immigration
authorities.
This Bill would delete the definition of "alien" to describe any
person who is not a born or fully naturalized citizen of the
United States.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
In 1937, the Legislature enacted various provisions regarding
the employment of "aliens", who are defined as any person who
is not a born or fully naturalized citizen of the United
States. The Legislature repealed most of these Labor Code
statutes in 1970. Unfortunately, the definition for "alien"
was not repealed and is still found in the Labor Code. Under
current law, all employment protections, rights, and remedies
available under state law, except as prohibited by federal
SB 432 (Mendoza) Page 3
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law, are available to all individuals regardless of
immigration status. Over the last few years, several bills
have been passed and signed into law which has strengthened
labor law protections for immigrant workers. SB 432 would
continue these efforts by repealing from the Labor Code the
term "alien" as a definition for an immigrant individual.
2. Proponent Arguments :
According to the author, the United States is a country of
immigrants who not only form an integral part of our culture
and society, but are also critical contributors to our
economic success. Immigrants work and pay taxes as well as
create new products, businesses, and technologies which
generate jobs for all Americans. According to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2013, there were 25.3 million
foreign-born persons in the U.S. labor force, comprising 16.3
percent of the total (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
"Foreign-Born Workers: Labor Force Characteristics in 2013").
The BLS also found that foreign-born workers were more likely
than native-born workers to be employed in service
occupations. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Treasure
notes that immigrants own 10.8 percent of all firms with
employees, providing job opportunities for thousands of
Americans. Proponents aruge that California is among the top
destination states for immigrants in the U.S. and given the
abundant evidence of their many contributions, the author
believes it is imperative that any derogative references to
foreign-born individuals be repealed from state law.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None received.
SUPPORT
California Applicants' Attorney Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
OPPOSITION
None on File.
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