Orange, Lake requiring contractors to use E-Verify to combat illegal immigration

10:23 p.m. EST, March 23, 2012|By Eloísa Ruano González, Orlando Sentinel

Efforts to require all employers to use an online verification system to keep illegal immigrants from getting work stalled in the recent Florida legislative session that ended this month, but two Central Florida counties are using the controversial program for projects using local tax dollars.

Both Orange and Lake now require companies to run employee names through the E-Verify system before awarding them a county-funded project. Cities and counties are obligated to ask contractors to run checks through the free electronic system if federal and state dollars are being used for a project.

"We don't want to take jobs from local workers who are legally able and willing to work," said Lake County Commission Chairwoman Leslie Campione, who pushed to add the E-Verify requirement in all county bid packets. "This is a way to ensure that we don't become a magnet for illegal workers."

Earlier this month, a Florida House bill calling for an E-Verify requirement for all businesses in the state failed to make it out of committee before the legislative session ended. The bill was co-sponsored by state Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha. He said he supports local officials using E-Verify but said it would be best if the federal government or the state made it a law.

Immigration advocates have long voiced their concerns about widespread use of the database. They worry about inaccuracies in the system and employers misusing it to prescreen job applicants. Employers are supposed to check all new hires, not just immigrants, after they offer them a job, under the rules of the program that compares a worker's information againstU.S. Department of Homeland Securityand Social Security databases to see if they person is legally eligible to work in the U.S.

Orange County contractors have to put in writing that they've checked their workers on E-Verify, county spokeswoman Laureen Martinez said. If they lie, they can risk losing the project and even be charged with a crime for knowingly making a false statement.

Orange, which added the requirement a year ago, plans to check the county's new hires in the database starting later this spring or early summer, she added. Lake started using it on its new hires last year.

In Florida, 18,000 employers — including private businesses, cities and county health departments — are enrolled to use E-Verify, according the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

E-Verify checks aren't an issue for most contractors, said Mark Wylie, CEO and president of the Central Florida chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. Many already use it to comply with state and federal requirements and avoid hiring illegal workers, Wylie said.

"Contractors understand…if the government comes down on them for this it could jeopardize future work," he said.

Since 2009, companies that receive federal contracts have had to use E-Verify, according to the Citizenship and Immigration Services. Gov. Rick Scott last year ordered state agencies under his direction to have contractors and subcontractors to do the same before awarding a project.

Wylie said the focus should be on all businesses, not just contractors: "If we're going to focus on E-Verify, let's focus on E-Verify for everyone, not just in the construction industry."

In addition to Metz's failed measure, a proposal to require all businesses in the nation to use E-Verify died in the U.S. Senate last year during a broader immigration legislation debate.

"Because of the failure of Tallahassee and Washington to respond to this issue, the local governments have had to step up."

source: E-Verify contractors: Orange, Lake requiring contractors to use E-Verify to combat illegal immigration. - Orlando Sentinel