Bill making E-Verify voluntary gets mixed reaction

07:53 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 8, 2011

By Karen Lee Ziner

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– A bill to bar the state or its municipalities from requiring that employers use the federal E-Verify system to obtain state contracts or obtain or keep a business license drew mixed public opinion Tuesday at a House Labor Committee hearing.
Extra: Read House Bill 5225

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Grace Diaz, D-Providence, would allow employers to decide for themselves whether they want to use E-Verify, a federal system that uses Social Security Administration and Homeland Security databases to screen out unauthorized workers.

Diaz’s bill, H-5255, also establishes usage standards that follow federal law. That includes that employers could not prescreen potential employees before they ere hired; critics say pre-employment screening has been used illegally as a racial-profiling tool.

“This bill is a voluntary E-Verify system,â€