Bill that would help immigrants injured on the job passes Senate committee

Undocumented immigrants injured on the job would no longer face a felony for using false identities under Florida's workers' compensation laws if a bill passed Tuesday by a Senate panel advances.

Under the proposal, introduced by state Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, employees who use fake IDs or other identity information to obtain a job or injury benefits would no longer face a felony workers' comp fraud charge and would be entitled to benefits.

A Naples Daily News investigation last year found that some Florida businesses hire undocumented workers for high-risk occupations without checking their documents, but they or their insurers report the workers to authorities after they're injured.

Instead of verifying documents when hiring, the employers or their insurers check Social Security numbers of the injured immigrants and report them if the numbers or other identifying documents weren't issued to them, the investigation found.

The injured workers reported often are denied benefits such as medical care.

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Farmer’s proposal would eliminate the provision used to arrest these workers and deny them benefits, which was introduced by Florida lawmakers in 2003.  

“This bill, again, is simply designed to ensure that workers who are injured on the job obtain the benefits they are due,” Farmer told committee members.

Rich Templin, a lobbyist with the union group AFL-CIO, which supports the bill, argued that excluding from coverage some undocumented workers can harm workplace safety across the state.

The Daily News found that more than 80 percent of the injured immigrants charged with this felony and reported between 2013 and 2016 worked for employee leasing companies or staffing agencies that provide labor and personnel services to high-risk industries with a large undocumented workforce.

ProPublica, an online news organization, also reported on undocumented injured workers arrested under this statute.

The Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance passed the bill without debate with six votes in favor and four against. It got the support of the four Democratic committee members in addition to two Republican senators, including Senate President Pro Tempore Anitere Flores, of Miami, who also chairs the committee.

The bill, which must pass the Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism before it can advance to the full chamber, faces opposition from many Republican legislators.

Farmer said after the vote he will continue pushing for the bill despite the opposition. An option, he said, would be to amend other workers' compensation legislation already introduced to add the proposal.

“I’m not going to give up,” he said.

Templin said it’s difficult to address the concerns of Republican senators who voted against the bill without explanation. 

“It’s frustrating that we had so many Republicans vote ‘no’ without articulating the reason for their vote,” Templin said.

Several immigrant and worker organizations showed their support for the bill at the hearing.

More:Florida's disposable workers: Companies profit from undocumented laborers, dump them after injuries

More:Undocumented immigrant workers face prosecution in other states after suffering injuries

Templin said the proposal faces an even tougher fight in the House and may not survive the session, scheduled to end March 9.

“As this process works, oftentimes it takes more than a session to get something passed,” he said.

Templin said Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, chairman of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee, has committed to look into the issue next session.

Burgess, in an earlier interview, said he doesn’t want to see workers exploited and that he favors the use of E-Verify, a free federal database where employers can check workers’ documents, to prevent these situations. He said, though, that he isn’t committed to making E-Verify mandatory for all businesses.

Templin said his group will support the bill through the Senate to raise awareness about the issue. Templin said, though, that they may be out of time..