Thread: VA: Gov Tells Agencies to E-Verify New State Hires

Va gov tells agencies to e-Verify new state hires

Associated Press - March 21, 2011 5:44 PM ET

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia state agencies will start vetting the immigration status of job applicants using a free federal database in June, 18 months ahead of schedule, Gov. Bob McDonnell said on Monday.

McDonnell's order moving the effective date for using the e-Verify system from December 2012 to this summer puts the state on the vanguard of continuing efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

It also gives the state and contractors more time to see how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's free database performs ahead of pending legislation that would require businesses holding state contracts to begin using e-Verify in 2013.

McDonnell said his order puts the state in compliance with federal law that prohibits hiring people who are in the United States illegally.

"The General Assembly passed legislation last year instructing our state agencies to use this federal resource to check employment eligibility based upon immigration status, and I felt strongly that we should implement this policy as quickly as possible," McDonnell said in a statement.

McDonnell's order coincides with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's announcement Monday that Virginians and residents of 4 other states can now use e-Verify to check on their own immigration status and ask the government to correct any erroneous data about them. Other states are Mississippi, Colorado, Arizona and Idaho.

Accelerating the effective date for Virginia agencies to begin checking job seekers through e-Verify gives a measure of comfort to businesses who are apprehensive about how pending legislation to force contractors to use the system would affect them, said Nicole Riley of the National Federation of Independent Business.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the e-Verify mandate for state contractors last month and sent it McDonnell to either sign, amend or veto. It would take effect in December 2013.

"This gives us more time to see how things work out," she said.

http://www.kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s=14293218

I am happy Virginia will soon enforce e-Verify, because so many employers in the State are performing unlawful acts employing undocumented aliens knowing they are not legal to work in this Country.

Well they can just come here to Maryland where our Governor calls them "New Americans" and rolls out the red carpet for these illegal alien invaders! I am terrified as our surrounding states crack down on illegal immigration because it only means more of the money-sucking, tax-evading, illegal alien invaders in our state! WAKE UP MARYLAND!

Va. governor accelerates new immigration checks


By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
March 22, 2011
RICHMOND

By June 1, state government agencies must begin checking whether new hires are eligible to work in this country, Gov. Bob McDonnell has ordered - a date 18 months before a law requiring the checks is scheduled to take effect.

Last year, the General Assembly approved legislation requiring the state to participate in E-Verify, a federal Internet-based system that enables employers to determine whether their employees legally can be employed. The effective date of that legislation is Dec. 1, 2012.

But McDonnell said in a statement Monday that "we should implement this policy as quickly as possible."

"My administration has focused on enforcing the nation's immigration laws to ensure that all of those working in Virginia's public and private sectors are legally eligible to do so," McDonnell said.

Ordering early implementation of the new law represents a firm stand against illegal immigrants by the governor, who has taken several as Virginia's chief executive.

McDonnell last year directed the state Department of Motor Vehicles to stop accepting a federal employment document as proof of legal residence from those applying for driver's licenses or identification cards.

He also asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for authority to allow some Virginia State Police troopers to enforce immigration laws, a request that is pending.

Legislation approved this year, meanwhile, would require some companies that receive state contracts to participate in the E-Verify system. That bill would apply to businesses with an average of 50 employees in the year prior to getting a state contract worth more than $50,000.

It is to take effect Dec. 1, 2013, to provide companies time to comply.

Virginia Beach Republican Sen. Jeff McWaters, who co-sponsored the measure, said he hopes contractors will follow the governor's lead and voluntarily adhere to the bill before the deadline.

http://hamptonroads.com

But McDonnell said in a statement Monday that "we should implement this policy as quickly as possible."

Yes, please hurry and put the work place laws into effect, because labor workers in Virginia are losing all jobs to undocumented aliens. Last Saturday I met a friend while having my hair done, the friend told me her husband had worked eleven years for a Company, two weeks ago the employer laid off her husband and many other employees and replaced them with illegal immigrants. My friend stated the employer never gave noticed of lay offs to any of the employees that lost their jobs. thirty or forty people lost jobs and are now suffering, due to a corrupted employer and illegal alien criminals. I do not understand why there are not steeper laws against illegal aliens and more deportations. Those people are destroying this Country via fraud and criminal crimes.