NASHVILLE (AP) - It would be a crime for illegal immigrants to accept pay for work done in Tennessee under a proposal headed for votes in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly.

The Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance the proposal to make it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to accept compensation.

"Everyone knows they come to Tennessee for jobs," said Sen. Joe Haynes, D-Goodlettsville and the bill's main sponsor. "If we remove the payment for the jobs, we remove the incentive for them to come to Tennessee."

If the bill becomes law, illegal immigrants caught working in the state could be required to forfeit any earnings, face up to six months in jail and be fined up to $500, Haynes said.

Ann Morse, an analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said she was unaware of lawmakers in any other state taking a similar approach.

"This appears to be a new concept," Morse said.

Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said he's concerned about how the law would be enforced.

"It is very likely that profiling would occur, and that a particular population would be a target," he said.

Cunza said the law also would serve to drive an underground economy even further into the shadows.

Haynes said the Legislature is prevented from enacting tougher penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants because the state must defer to federal laws on the matter. But federal laws do not rule out tougher penalties against workers, he said.

"We've done all that federal law allows us to do to employers of illegal immigrants," Haynes said. "The only way to further strengthen our laws is to create sanctions against employees."

Legislative analysts have not projected how much the law would cost the state because they had assumed that federal law would supersede the proposal.

Haynes said he'd wait to clarify its constitutional status before bringing the bill to a Senate floor vote. The companion bill cleared House committees and is also waiting to be scheduled for a House floor vote.

"I feel for workers everywhere, but we can't afford to take care of our own people," said Rep. Mike Turner, the measure's main House sponsor. "I have struggled with this, because I'm the original bleeding heart on these issues."

The Old Hickory Democrat said the constitutional questions won't be sorted out unless the measure works its way through the legislative process.

"We can't wait for the federal government to do something, and they've chosen not to do anything," he said. "I hope I'm doing the right thing. I know I'm doing what my constituents want."

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Read SB0252 on the General Assembly's Web site at: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us

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