GALLOWAY REINTRODUCES HIS E-VERIFY LEGISLATION

States News Service
January 25, 2011
HARRISBURG, PA

The following information was released by Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Democratic Caucus:

State Rep. John Galloway has prepared to reintroduce his E-Verify legislation that is designed to protect Pennsylvania construction jobs.

Galloway's legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House last summer but the state Senate failed to take action on them before the legislative session ended.

"We have to stop the practice of pushing tax-paying Pennsylvanians from the payrolls to the unemployment rolls by unscrupulous greedy contractors," said Galloway, D-Bucks. "This practice hurts those who lose their jobs, their local community and taxpayers across the state."

Galloway said the practice of hiring illegal immigrant construction workers hurts three groups of people:

1. Well-trained legal Pennsylvania construction workers who lose their jobs, or are forced to work for a lot less money;

2. Pennsylvania taxpayers because illegal immigrant workers don't pay taxes and yet, because of their low income, they and their families often use millions of dollars of social services funded by taxpayers; and

3. The construction industry because contractors hiring illegal immigrant workers can take shortcuts with training and safety standards, in addition to lowering and undercutting the pay for all construction workers.

The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that in April 2009, there were between 18,000 and 35,000 illegal immigrant construction workers in Pennsylvania.

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