Thread: Mo. immigration restrictions take effect in 2009

Mo. immigration restrictions take effect in 2009
By CHRIS BLANK , 12.30.08, 02:12 PM EST
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Missouri businesses are about to get a shove toward a federal database for screening newly hired employees for illegal immigrants. And cities will risk getting punished if they become havens for illegal immigrants.

Those new laws taking effect Thursday are part of a broader effort by Missouri lawmakers to crack down on illegal immigrants and those who employ them.

Starting in 2009, public employers - including state and local governments - must use the E-Verify database that searches records from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether someone can work.

Private businesses won't have to use the database unless they have a government contract worth more than $5,000, receive state loans or tax breaks, or have been caught hiring an illegal immigrant.

But even those that don't have to use E-Verify will have a big incentive to start. Employers caught "knowingly" hiring an illegal immigrant risk losing their business licenses, unless they had used E-Verify to screen their new hires.

Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor who helped draft the law, said lawmakers showed foresight in going after illegal immigrants at cusp of the recession.

Federal statistics released earlier this month show the state's unemployment rate hit 6.7 percent in November.
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"It's going to have a very significant impact in protecting jobs for U.S. citizens and jobs for legal aliens during this time of high unemployment," said Kobach, who also was a top immigration adviser to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. "The state Legislature's timing was perfect."
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/12/ ... 68355.html

Missouri immigration restrictions take effect in 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | 4:00 p.m. CST
BY CHRIS BLANK, The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri businesses are about to get a shove toward a federal database for screening newly hired employees for illegal immigrants. And cities will risk getting punished if they become havens for illegal immigrants.

Those new laws taking effect Thursday are part of a broader effort by Missouri lawmakers to crack down on illegal immigrants and those who employ them.
Some new Missouri laws

Several new Missouri laws take effect Thursday. Here’s a look at some of them:

Immigration checks

All public employers and those with private businesses with government contracts worth more than $5,000, receiving state loans or getting tax breaks must use the federal E-Verify database to screen new hires. Employers caught “knowinglyâ€