Indiana Gov. Daniels Says Immigration Bill Will Target Employers

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said he expects a bill to toughen restrictions on illegal immigration now working its way through the Legislature to focus more on employers who hire workers without permission to be in the country, The Indianapolis Star reported Wednesday.

"I think that legislation will be changed," Daniels told The Indianapolis Star Editorial Board. "I support this, to drop the law enforcement provisions that have been the ones that have bothered most people."

Gov. Mitch Daniels

A Senate bill that passed earlier this year was modeled after the law in Arizona.

A federal appeals court earlier this week indicated that parts of the Arizona law could be unconstitutional.

The Kansas measure would have made immigration enforcement the responsibility of local law enforcement.

The proposed law will likely be altered significantly in the House after opposition to it has stiffened.

Daniels, however, said the provisions in the bill targeting employers would survive.

"The idea I like is to deny them the tax deduction if they're caught doing it," Daniels said.

"It's a fairly clean way to get at it, and really employment is the magnet that leads to the illegality," he added.