But two years after the Illegal Alien Employment Act went into effect, state officials have closed 12 complaints involving 19 companies, and only one business was formally charged. That tally is well under what the law's supporters say they expected.
State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, the act's sponsor, said he wants labor officials to explain to the legislative Fiscal Review Committee he chairs why they're not doing more to enforce the act.
"I'm very disappointed in that," he said. "The Department of Labor is not doing as the General Assembly instructed."
Immigrant advocates say they're concerned those who file the complaints don't have the authority or the training to enforce immigration law, and they create an undue burden on small business owners.
"When someone goes into a Mexican restaurant and they hear the kitchen staff speaking Spanish, that's not enough to establish and substantiate an investigation," said Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Under Tennessee's law, a reported business that hasn't taken steps to determine a worker's eligibility could lose the licenses it needs to operate until it can prove the illegal workers are gone. And a company caught twice in a three-year period could lose its licenses for up to a year.
State officials, law enforcement officers and state and local employees can file complaints based on their own observations. Members of the public must approach officials with information to file.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, charged with enforcing the employment act, says it's doing its best with limited resources. The department has 12 inspectors to investigate alleged child labor, workplace smoking, wage-and-hour and other labor complaints. The state's Illegal Alien Employment Act didn't come with funding for any new inspectors.
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