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Mass. senators file bill to penalize employers who falsify immigration documents
Summary
Senators Ryan C. Fattman and Bruce E. Tarr filed Senate Bill No. 1313 on Jan. 14, 2025, proposing a new section in Chapter 149 that would criminalize employers who knowingly falsify employment or citizenship documents for aliens, with escalating fines and jail terms for repeat offenses. The bill was referred to Labor and Workforce Development.
Senator Ryan C. Fattman and Senator Bruce E. Tarr filed Senate Bill No. 1313 on Jan. 14, 2025, proposing to make it unlawful for an employer to knowingly falsify employment or citizenship documents of any "alien" in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the filing names fines and jail time for violations. The bill, titled "An Act encouraging employer integrity in hiring," was submitted to the committee listed as Labor and Workforce Development. The document header lists the filing date as Jan. 14, 2025; a later notation adjacent to the petitioners lists Feb. 27, 2025, as an accompanying date.
The proposal would add a new Section 19D to Chapter 149 of the Massachusetts General Laws. Under the draft language, a first violation would be punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both. A subsequent conviction for a like offense (one prior conviction) would carry a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,500, or imprisonment for up to three months, or both. A third conviction (two prior convictions) would carry a fine of not less than $2,500 and not more than $5,000 and imprisonment of not less than six months, or both. The bill text uses the statutory term "alien" when describing the protected class.
The filing identifies the committee assignment as Labor and Workforce Development. The cover page also notes a similar matter filed in the prior legislative session (Senate No. 1167 of 2023–2024). The document does not record any legislative vote, public testimony, or enforcement mechanism beyond the described criminal penalties. Whether and when the bill will advance from the committee was not specified in the filing.
Because the filing itself is a petition to initiate legislation, the text here describes only the proposed statutory language; it does not create binding law until enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor. The filing makes specific numeric penalties and custody terms part of that proposal; those figures appear exactly as presented in the submitted bill.
