An Idaho bill, aimed at bringing about hard hitting reforms to combat illegal immigration, has crashed in committee. The bill put forward by Republican Phil Hart is designed to discourage illegal immigrants from seeking jobs in Idaho. The crux of his plan is to dry up jobs for them in the entire state.

The bill proposes a “three strikes” rule, where employers are penalized on increasing levels for each infraction of employing illegal immigrants. On the “first strike”, where an employer is found guilty of employing illegal immigrants they are simply required to terminate the services of those employees and sign a court document declaring that they have done so. The “second strike” causes the employer to lose their business license for a maximum of ten days and a “third strike” would again cause a suspension of the business license, but this time up to a period of a year. Businesses that get hit by the third strike will also not be allowed to shut down and transform into a new business. The strikes can be taken off the records if the business manages to go through a period of three years between their violations.

The bill attempted to bring about a sense of responsibility in the businesses which would see them aid immigration authorities in combating illegal immigration. However, the bill needs to be thought through further as it does not consider the fact that some businesses, like growing fruit, do not require business licenses. This and other facts like what happens to farms that get shut down etc need to be addressed before it becomes a viable bill. So it appears that the bill killing in Idaho was done with good reason.