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GANNETT STATE BUREAU
February 25, 2008
By Tom Baldwin
TRENTON — Just when Gov. Jon S. Corzine needs friends, a key Democratic lawmaker has landed in a fight with a mainstay of their party's political base, New Jersey's large and growing Latino population. Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has drawn the ire of some Latino leaders by introducing a bill that would penalize firms that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. This idea set off a sharp protest from Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey president Martin Perez. The angry rhetoric comes at a time when Corzine, a little over halfway into his four-year term, needs all the help he can get. The governor appears to have lost legislative and popular support for his idea to raise tolls to trim the state debt. And, things might get harder in the days ahead, when Corzine unveils his state budget, which may include layoffs of state employees -- another core constituency often loyal to Democrat. It is into this atmosphere that Sweeney has drawn the ire of some Latino leaders.
"Sweeney places blame on the private-business sector and the undocumented for both depressed wages as well as the costs of state services," Perez said. "It is the toxins of legislative fiscal irresponsibility that Sweeney should target for elimination, not the business community." Perez said the Latino vote "determines electoral outcomes" and that "it appears the state Democratic Party is out of touch." "We will not be taken for granted by the Democratic legislative and party leadership," warned Perez. "And unless they denounce and remove Majority Leader Sweeney from his leadership positions in the Democratic Party, when we go to the polls we will make sure the Democratic Party understands how important the immigration-reform issue is to the Latino community."
Sweeney said the bill is needed because the federal government doesn't enforce immigration laws. On Friday, federal officials announced that fines against employees who knowingly hire illegal immigrants will be raised 25 percent, the first boost since 1999. Camden City Council president Angel Fuentes stressed that Sweeney was treading on what should be a federal matter. "This is a very sensitive issue," Fuentes said. "You are talking about possibly destroying the fabric of a family or hurting business. It's not fair for local or state officials to impose a law where no federal regulation exists. This is about two (international) borders -- Mexico and Canada." He also said he doubts Sweeney's proposal would get through the Legislature, where it would be challenged by both the black and Hispanic caucuses. "Even if it does, it will be challenged in court," Fuentes said. "It'll be like the community in Burlington County (Riverside) that passed the law about illegal immigrants. They never expected local businesses would close. And, they wasted taxpayers' money (on lawsuits)."
Sweeney said he welcomes a review of his proposal by the Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy. "I am not picking a fight. I am not targeting legal immigrants," said Sweeney. "It's about people that are here illegally. We have got generations now who are illegal." "Businesses have an opportunity to do the right thing here," Sweeney said. "The excuse the business community used to make in the past -- and it was legitimate -- was that it was very difficult to determine what is legitimate (documentation) and what is not. Now (the Department of) Homeland Security has a (Web) site. It is very easy to use." Perez, for his part, remains angry: "Senator Sweeney has singled out the most vulnerable and voiceless in targeting the immigrant population, who at worst are guilty only of civil violations."
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