Alabama Passes Mandatory E-Verify & Immigration Enforcement Bill

An Alabama House and Senate conference committee agreed on a new bill, which both chambers have already passed, that requires the use of E-Verify by all businesses in the state and includes several immigration enforcement provisions. Should Gov. Robert Bentley sign the bill into law, it would become one of the largest state crackdowns on illegal immigration in the country.

The bill requires all businesses, public and private, to begin using E-Verify effective April 1, 2012. Businesses that do not comply face suspension of its business license and loss of employee expensing for state income tax purposes. All state and local businesses must be in compliance by Jan. 1, 2012 or face loss of business license and contract.

The bill calls for assisting small business compliance with the E-Verify requirement by establishing an E-Verify designated agent that can check new hires on the behalf of businesses that employ fewer than 25 employees.

Other provisions within the bill include:

Creates an affirmative defense against business penalties if E-Verify is used. Prohibits lawsuits against businesses that fire an employee due to an E-Verify final non-confirmation determination;

Require state and local governments to use the SAVE system to verify public-benefits eligibility for those attesting to be non-citizens;

Creates a misdemeanor for failure to carry an alien registration document;

Requires police, after a lawful stop and when practicable, to check a person’s immigration status if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is illegally present. Provides 4th amendment protections and stays the status-check requirement for persons who are crime victims or witnesses;

Creates misdemeanors for seeking day-laborer work when illegal present and hiring illegally-present day laborers. Creates misdemeanors for aiding and abetting illegal aliens;
Ban illegal aliens from state universities and colleges;

Prohibits sanctuary policies and provides non-compliance penalties;

Requires the Attorney General to apply for a 287(g) MOU for state police;

Creates a crime for producing fake IDs; and

Requires elementary and secondary schools to request a birth certificate for all enrolling students and to determine whether such children were born outside of the U.S. or are children of illegal aliens requiring English-as-a-Second-language classes. Requires the collection of statistics and a determination of the costs related to illegal-alien students.