Immigration Law Reduces Work Force

Alabama's strict immigration law may result in fewer landscaping workers as legal Hispanic residents are leaving the state.

Alabama's strict new immigration law, intended to force illegal workers out of jobs, seems to be driving away many Hispanic landscape contractor employees, construction workers and roofers who are legal residents of the United States.

James Harwell, executive director of the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association (ALNLA), said the association simply wants a legal work force.

''We do not have a problem with rules such as E-Verify,'' he said. ''We need to follow state laws.''

More than 288,000 employers, large and small, across the United States use E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of their employees, with about 1,200 new businesses signing up each week. While participation in E-Verify is voluntary for most businesses, some companies may be required by state law or federal regulation to use E-Verify. As a result of the new law, Alabama requires E-Verify usage.

Harwell said the association has conducted educational sessions for its members of the use of E-Verify, adding that the association has no problems with forcing illegal workers out of jobs.

''The main concern we have is that legal Hispanics seem to be leaving the state now,'' he said. ''We are not seeing this as a problem now, but we will probably see the consequences of this more in the spring.''

Rick Pate, the owner of a commercial landscaping company in Montgomery, Ala. lost two of his most experienced workers, who were in the country legally. He spent thousands of dollars training them to install irrigation systems at places like the Hyundai plant.

''They just feel like there is a negative atmosphere for them here. They don't feel welcome. I don't begrudge them. I'd feel nervous, too,'' Pate said.

While it's not clear how many of an estimated 185,000 Hispanic people in the state have fled, one estimate figured as much one-fourth of the commercial building work force had left since the law was upheld, said Bill Caton, president of Associated General Contractors of Alabama. Commercial construction is a more than $7 billion-a-year industry in Alabama.

Legislators said the law would help legal residents suffering from nearly 10 percent unemployment.

One of the bill's authors, Republican Sen. Scott Beason, said he expected short-term problems, but he has received ''thank you'' calls from two people who replaced illegal immigrants who fled their jobs. Beason predicts that trickle will become a rush.

''We have the best law in the country and I stand by what we've done,'' Beason said.

Harwell said the ultimate resolution to this issue should come from the Federal government, noting that the country needs a strong guest worker program.

The federal government has asked an appeals to halt the Alabama immigration law saying it could have dire diplomatic consequences abroad, invites discrimination and merely forces illegal immigrants into neighboring states.

The motion, filed in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claimed Alabama's new law is ''highly likely to expose persons lawfully in the United States, including school children, to new difficulties in routine dealings.''

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