State Treasurer Sarah Steelman touted her anti-illegal immigration bonafides this morning in St. Charles County, where the issue has flared up in recent years during the construction of two apartment projects in O’Fallon.
Steelman said at a sparsely-attended discussion organized by her gubernatorial campaign that she supported a bill approved recently by the Missouri Senate on the issue.
But she said the Legislature should go further by imposing additional punishment for companies found to knowingly employ workers in the United States illegally.
“I don’t think it’s stiff enough on the financial penalties,” Steelman said at the county government’s administration building in St. Charles. “I think that’s what employers understand.”
Steelman didn’t specify how much of a fine should be imposed. The Senate-approved bill, now pending in the House, would subject employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants to loss of their business permits, licenses and state contracts.
The measure does call for fines for employers who knowingly misclassify employees on federal reports. And it takes various other steps, such as making illegal immigrants ineligible for most state and local services.
Asked by a reporter whether she has any differences on the subject with GOP primary opponent Kenny Hulshof, Steelman said she didn’t know his position ”other than that Congress hasn’t done anything about this issue.” Hulshof, of course, is a member of Congress.
The tiny turnout for the discussion included County Recorder of Deeds Barbara Hall, whose husband, Buddy Hardin, is a local GOP activist who helped set up the event; two employees in Hall’s office; Hardin’s brother, Ian Hardin, an immigration lawyer from Alton, Ill., and Bill Gaines, a retired machinist from St. Charles who supports Steelman’s candidacy.
Hardin was Gov. Matt Blunt’s campaign coordinator in the county in 2004. After Blunt’s election, his administration tapped Hardin for a patronage plum - one of the state Revenue Department license fee agent positions in the county.