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States Pass E-Verify Laws

Overview

Several states have passed legislation requiring employers to use E-Verify. E-Verify is an employment verification tool managed by the Department of Homeland Security that uses information from the Social Security Administration and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to determine an applicant's eligibility to work.

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Update

Gov. Schwarzenegger Vetoes Anti-Verification Bill

Monday, October 12, 2009, 3:49 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Gov. Schwarzenegger

Gov. Schwarzenegger

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have prohibited cities, counties or districts from requiring employers who receive government contracts to use an employment verification system like E-Verify. AB 1288 was offered by Assemblyman Paul Fong and passed the State Assembly last spring and the State Senate over the summer.

Governor Schwarzenegger issued the following statement to the State legislature:

The bill would create administrative burdens for employers receiving government funds in that a June 6, 2008, federal Executive Order 12989, as amended, requires all federal contractors, as a condition of any future federal contract, to use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility of their workers. Employers receiving government funds would be required to sort out and identify complex funding streams and comply with both the Executive Order and provisions of this and other related laws. The bill also raises the potential for increased claims and litigation by placing new requirements in the Labor Code without also defining how the requirements will be enforced. Moreover, the bill implicates constitutional questions regarding the State’s authority to impose this prohibition against charter counties and cities for matters that may constitute municipal affairs.

-- Gov. Schwarzenegger

Thanks to all the NumbersUSA Members who sent faxes to Gov. Schwarzenegger!

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Polls

Gannett Poll Finds NJ Residents Oppose Rewards for Illegal Aliens

Oppose Rewards for Illegal Migration - Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sixty-two percent of state residents oppose granting illegal immigrants some type of limited driver's license, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll.

Only 32 percent said children of illegal immigrants deserved in-state tuition rates, while 20 percent favored the lower rates for illegal immigrants themselves.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090324/NEWS01/903240343/1006/

In the News

Law would ban requiring E-Verify system

Quoted - Sunday, October 16, 2011

Opponents of the new bill, such as NumbersUSA.com, say mandatory E-Verify is good for the state because it pushes illegal immigrants from the workforce, leaving jobs open for Californians who are legal residents or U.S. citizens.

Cindy Carcamo -- The Orange County Register

Georgia agriculture commissioner to testify about farm labor on Capitol Hill

Quoted - Monday, October 3, 2011

Roy Beck, the executive director of Numbers USA, a nonprofit that supports lower immigration levels, has suggested in the past that farmers might become more innovative if they did not depend on the labor of illegal immigrants. They might even resort to using more mechanization in harvesting, he said.

By Jeremy Redmon -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/georgia-agriculture-commissioner-to-1193712.html

Strict Arizona immigration law gets Supreme Court blessing

Quoted - Saturday, May 28, 2011

Roy Beck of the reform group NumbersUSA sees it as much more than that, calling the ruling "a tremendous victory for unemployed Americans."

"There are about 7 million illegal aliens estimated to be working in non-agricultural jobs. There are many Americans unemployed and lined up to get those jobs," Beck claimed.

Also supporting the ruling is the Latino advocacy group known as the League of United Latin American citizens (LULAC).

Luis Vera, LULAC's general counsel, says the law should expose businesses that utilize underpaid immigrants in unsafe conditions.

About a dozen states have laws similar to Arizona's.

"There are at least a dozen other states that have held back," Rob Beck said, "I think we're going to see those states passing those laws in the next year."

by Barry Bagnato -- CBS News

Roy Beck of the reform group NumbersUSA sees it as much more than that, calling the ruling "a tremendous victory for unemployed Americans."



"There are about 7 million illegal aliens estimated to be working in non-agricultural jobs. There are many Americans unemployed and lined up to get those jobs," Beck claimed.



Also supporting the ruling is the Latino advocacy group known as the League of United Latin American citizens (LULAC).



Luis Vera, LULAC's general counsel, says the law should expose businesses that utilize underpaid immigrants in unsafe conditions.



About a dozen states have laws similar to Arizona's.



"There are at least a dozen other states that have held back," Rob Beck said, "I think we're going to see those states passing those laws in the next year."



Further, he predicts the business community's concerned for a single uniform system will send it from the Supreme Court across the street to Congress, to push for a standard nationwide eVerify requirement.

by Barry Bagnato -- CBS News

Show More http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20066585-503544.html

Latino Celebrities Speak Out For Immigration Reform

Quoted - Wednesday, May 18, 2011

“Rock guitarist Carlos Santana may have reached a new low in hate speech against American workers,” wrote Roy Beck, head of NumbersUSA, which favors strict immigration policies, “when he took to a microphone on the field before the Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies game yesterday. . .Santana, like most pro-illegal-immigration activists, doesn't have the slightest idea about the reality of American workers.”

By Elizabeth Llorente -- Fox News Latino

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/05/17/latino-celebrities-increasingly-speak-immigration-reform/

Simi Valley adopts E-Verify to check new employees' legal status

Quoted - Tuesday, August 31, 2010

NumbersUSA.com, which advocates for lower immigration levels, “estimates 6 million jobs in America are held by illegal aliens. If Congress passed mandatory E-Verify it would open up 2.76 million jobs for Americans,” Walsh said.

By Mike Harris -- Ventura County Star

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/31/simi-valley-adopts-e-verify-to-check-new-legal/

Leaders mulling verification law

Quoted - Wednesday, September 30, 2009

As of April, the most recent date for which statistics are available, 12 states had passed laws requiring some or all employers to use E-Verify in hiring new employees. Five states had E-Verify laws under discussion by their legislatures, according to NumbersUSA, a political action committee concerned with immigration issues.

Betty Mitchell Gray - Washington Daily News

http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2009/09/30/news/doc4ac28bf9bb6b1943961843.txt

Governor of Arizona Is in Line for Cabinet

Quoted - Friday, November 21, 2008

"My first thought is that Obama could do a lot worse," said Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, a policy group in the Washington area, who went on to praise Ms. Napolitano’s law enforcement background while denouncing her support for a guest worker program as "amnesty."

Randal C. Archibold, New York Times, 20 November 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/us/politics/21napolitano.html?_r=1&ref=us

Amnesty lobby is immigration Goliath

Quoted - Monday, May 14, 2007

"The money and the lobbying power is stacked against us," said a representative of NumbersUSA. "This is an issue that people see and experience the effects of on an everyday basis. There is definitely a very powerful grass-roots activism on this issue."

NumbersUSA has more than 300,000 activists sending faxes and calling Congress, an increase from 100,000 two years ago. More than 1 million people receive e-mail alerts from the group.

Politico.com

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=8CD543A4-3048-5C12-00D21E1EA5580F60

Council Tackles E-Verify Language; Approves COPS Grant

In the News - Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Springfield City Council discussed the ballot language associated with the E-verify ordinance at its Monday night meeting.
Council also discussed when to put the issue to voters: either February 7 or March 6, 2012.
Earlier this year, the Ozarks Minutemen submitted enough signatures to force a public vote.

OzarksFirst.com

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=554587

County contractors required to verify workers' immigration status

In the News - Wednesday, August 3, 2011

San Bernardino County has implemented a policy to require all contractors that do business with the County to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.

Vitorville Daily Press

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/required-29134-san-bernardino.html

Yakima City Council approves use of E-Verify

In the News - Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Amid a new round of politically charged rhetoric about illegal immigration, a divided Yakima City Council narrowly reversed itself Tuesday and approved the use of E-Verify over the objection of Hispanic community leaders.

The council voted 4-3 to require that contractors who do business with the city must verify the legal status of their employees by using the controversial federal employment-screening database.

A year ago the council rejected E-Verify by the same margin amid sometimes heated testimony that vilified the online program as prone to mistakes and warned its use would alienate Yakima's rapidly growing Hispanic population. A study by an outside research firm found the program is not foolproof.

BY CHRIS BRISTOL -- YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/06/7/yakima-city-council-approves-use-of-e-verify/print

E-Verify not a risk to our agriculture

In the News - Thursday, January 20, 2011

While the media have faithfully reported on the agriculture angle, the existence of the legal alternative to continuing to hire black market farm laborers who have escaped capture at our borders has so far eluded mention.

It is something called the H2A agricultural worker visa.

This agricultural program establishes lawful means for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring an unlimited number — no ceiling! — of temporary foreign workers into the United States.

By D.A. King -- Gwinnett (Ga.) Daily Post

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/opinion/headlines/KING_E-Verify_not_a_risk_to_our_agriculture_114331934.html

SC agency identifies 35 illegal immigrants at 5 school construction sites; company fined

In the News - Tuesday, August 31, 2010

State investigators have identified nearly three dozen illegal immigrants working at school construction sites in one South Carolina county, and fined a company, officials announced Friday.

The state agency overseeing South Carolina's illegal immigration law reported that five subcontractors have been cited for employing 35 illegal workers — 32 of them identified since the 2008 law began applying to all businesses July 1.

By Seanna Cox -- The Associated Press

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/breaking/sc-agency-identifies-35-illegal-immigrants-at-5-school-construction-sites-company-fined-101683003.html

Idaho: Immigration bill targeting employers nixed

In the News - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Lawmakers voted down a bill Monday that would have required employers to screen workers using a federal background check system amid concerns it would add another burden to business owners.

The Senate State Affairs Committee defeated the measure on 7-2 vote. The bill was aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the state, and would have put employers who accepted false identification at risk of losing their business licenses.

By SIMMI AUJLA -- Forbes.com

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/03/09/business-financial-impact-us-id-immigration-legislation_7417987.html

Senate OKs watered down illegal immigration bill

In the News - Friday, March 5, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Some businesses would have to confirm the immigration status of employees under a bill passed by the Utah Senate but would no longer face criminal penalties if they didn't.

An original version of the measure included the penalties but bill sponsor Sen. Chris Buttars removed it, saying businesses had complained.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12091398

Laborers at Cobb Courthouse didn't show work permits

In the News - Thursday, February 11, 2010

Allegations that illegal immigrants were working on the $63 million courthouse project came to light last week when a bricklayers union organizer questioned the county.

Another bricklayers representative said he talked with employees at the courthouse in November and asked if papers were needed to get a job there. The employees said no papers were needed and that they were paid in cash, said Jose Alvarez, business marketing representative of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers in Washington.

By Mary Lou Pickel -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/laborers-at-cobb-courthouse-295364.html

E-Verify ballot initiative moving along

In the News - Monday, February 8, 2010

A Novato-based group advocating the employment of documented American workers in Novato has collected more than half the required signatures to place an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot to force employers working with the city to verify the citizenship of workers.

By Brent Ainsworth -- The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14336685

E-Verify ballot initiative moving along

In the News - Monday, February 8, 2010

A Novato-based group advocating the employment of documented American workers in Novato has collected more than half the required signatures to place an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot to force employers working with the city to verify the citizenship of workers.

By Brent Ainsworth -- The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_14336685