Immigration Reform and Your Detail Business

By Keith Duplessie

If you are like many detail business-owners, you have most likely employed immigrant workers. As such, you need to know what’s happening in immigration reform. Immigration was one of the hottest issues of the 109th Congress in 2006, but they did not come up with a clear solution for immigration reform.

Without question, the largest group of immigrant workers in the detail business is Hispanic. If the auto detail industry hopes to have a source of qualified labor in the future, it must work to provide employment opportunities (and training) to the fastestgrowing minority group in the United States. Employing Hispanics sometimes creates situations such as language barriers and cultural issues. The industry must meet these problems with educational opportunities for potential automotive detailers from the Hispanic community. We must ask: Are the manufacturers and suppliers in the industry doing anything to enhance detailer education and certification?

Certainly, more needs to be done in this area – especially for immigrant workers. But individual detail businesses are hard-pressed to operate their businesses, let alone provide proper training for ethnic minorities.

Both the House and the Senate have introduced bills that list extensive border-enforcement provisions, including new border-fencing and mandatory sentences for smugglers. Of note to you, if you’re a small-business owner, would be the Senate bill, which requires employers to use an electronic verification system for new hires, and establishes English as the country’s national language. The House bill provides felony status to those who assist, encourage, direct or induce a person to attempt to enter, enter or remain in the United States illegally. After six years, all employers will have to use a database to verify the Social Security numbers of all employees. Maximum fines for employers of illegal workers increase from $10,000 to $40,000 per violation, and prison sentences can reach 30 years for repeat offenders.

“Guest worker” provisions sparked much controversy in House and Senate debates. The Senate bill provides for guest workers, which means illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for five years or more can stay, continue working and eventually become legal permanent residents. Those who have been in the United States between two and five years must go to a point of entry at the border and file an application to return, and those who have been here fewer than two years must leave. The House bill, on the other hand, clearly makes illegal presence in the United States a felony.

The House conducted a series of immigration hearings across the country in the summer of 2006, which is strange because both branches have already passed related legislation. A resolution to the differences in these immigration policies is not likely to happen.

Detail-business owners should continue to follow the immigration reform debate, as it can have a huge impact on a business that employs immigrant workers. In my opinion, the auto-detail industry is employing more and more immigrant workers, and this trend probably won't change in the near future.

If you do hire immigrants, do not forget the importance of proper training. Emphasizing education will ensure greater success for you and your workers. And, if immigration reform results in dramatic changes in U.S. immigration laws, you’ll need to be aware and prepared.

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