Thread: NE:E-Verify Bill Puts Onus on Employers

Published Friday January 9, 2009

E-Verify bill puts onus on employers

BY CINDY GONZALEZ
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A written complaint would trigger a county or state investigation into whether an employer knowingly hired an illegal immigrant.

Violators would face suspension or revocation of their business license.

People who file frivolous or false complaints would face a criminal misdemeanor charge.

Those details are part of the electronic verification bill introduced Thursday by State Sen. Brad Ashford, chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.

Another bill introduced Thursday could cost employers tax incentives if they hire illegal immigrants.

"We don't want to create a witch hunt," said Ashford. "We don't want to use this as a wedge to go out and find people. The purpose is to make sure, as best we can, that employers are following rules on who can work and who can't."

For months Ashford has declared his intent to require employers to use E-Verify, a computerized system that helps check an applicant's eligibility to work in this country. Free to the employer, the program works by cross-referencing job applicants' personal information with federal databases.

Critics have balked at its mandatory use, citing the system's error rate, its inability to detect stolen or multiple identifications and the risk of discrimination against foreigners.

Dubbed the Nebraska Fair and Legal Employment Act, Ashford's proposal, Legislative Bill 34, follows last session's divisive debate on several bills aimed at curbing illegal immigration. The Omaha lawmaker at that time pledged to host roundtable discussions to gauge the effects of illegal immigration on the state.

The E-Verify bill, he has said, is a solution that emerged from those meetings. While the cost of enforcement has not been estimated, Ashford said it could be expensive.

The proposed law, which would take effect in 2011, would require all employers to verify eligibility of an applicant through E-Verify. It also would prohibit the state or any political subdivision from awarding contracts to those who do not use the system.

Modeled after an Arizona law, it calls for a county attorney or the state attorney general to investigate a complaint of an unauthorized worker. Ashford said anonymous complaints still could be submitted to federal officials, but under his bill they would not trigger a state or local investigation.

If the complaint is investigated and determined to have merit, the state or local attorneys could notify the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or initiate civil court action.

Violators would have to swear in writing within three days that undocumented workers have been fired or face the loss of their business licenses.

Employers who use E-Verify have a pretty solid legal defense against knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant, Ashford said.

Knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant already is a federal offense, but Ashford and others have voiced frustration over the enforcement of illegal immigration.

State Sen. Gwen Howard of Omaha introduced a related proposal Thursday.

LB 95 would amend the Nebraska Advantage Act, designed to encourage business expansion in the state, by requiring company officials to certify that they have not employed an illegal worker in the past five years. Violators would lose tax incentives.

• Contact the writer: 444-1224, cindy.gonzalez@owh.com

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10532914

I like it, love it, etc.! What has always bothered me was the phrase "knowingly hire". So how can a prosecutor prove that the business was not just a dupe to fraudulent documents? And it has been ultimately stupidity to require E-Verify for government contracts performing more than $100,000 of work. The feds should make this mandatory for even private employers that never get government contracts, as it seems many states are folding under OBL groups that feel employment laws are stupid as they want to build up their ethnic group.