Traditionally a federal responsibility, immigration reform has
become a hot button topic for state lawmakers across the United
States. According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, in the first quarter of 2011, state legislators in
the 50 states and Puerto Rico introduced 1,538 immigration-related
bills and resolutions. This surpassed the first quarter of 2010,
when 1,180 bills were introduced.
In particular, state legislatures continue to pass legislation
aimed at curtailing the hiring of undocumented workers by requiring
employers to utilize the E-Verify program. E-Verify is a
web-based system operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) that allows employers to determine whether their
employees are eligible to work in the United States. E-Verify
is currently voluntary for all employers, although a growing list
of states have passed laws requiring businesses to participate and
mandating its use by public employers. Indeed, thus far in
2011, 8 states have enacted legislation requiring employers to
enroll and participate in E-Verify, including Alabama, Florida
(executive order), Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Utah and Virginia.
Currently, 17 states total have laws requiring employers to enroll
and participate in E-Verify. The linked table provides a snapshot of states
requiring participation in E-Verify.
For multi-state employers, the growing patchwork of state
immigration laws requiring participation in E-Verify, coupled with
the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding an Arizona law
requiring mandatory use of E-Verify, means that multi-state
employers must align their worksite compliance strategy with both
the applicable state immigration laws currently in effect in the
state(s) in which they operate, as well as with federal immigration
laws.
As state legislatures continue to enact E-Verify legislation,
employers should expect that more and more states will be
encouraged to pass laws regulating the hiring of undocumented
workers and mandating the use of E-Verify, thereby imposing
additional compliance burdens on employers operating in multiple
states. Between the one-two punch of federal and state
immigration laws, employers will face the daunting task of trying
to comply with the growing patchwork of laws aimed at curbing
illegal immigration.
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