ImmigrationAlabama joins E-Verify program
Last Thursday Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed a tough new immigration bill that includes a requirement that all employers in the state to use the E-Verify system; under the law, all employers will have to verify a prospective worker’s immigration status using the E-Verify system; the law also requires that businesses check the immigration status of day laborers and contains provisions regarding transportation and rental agreements
Last Thursday Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed a tough new immigration bill that includes a requirement that all employers in the state to use the E-Verify system.
Under the law, all employers will have to verify a prospective worker’s immigration status using the E-Verify system, an online database maintained by DHS.
If a business fails to comply with the law, employers risk losing their business license or employee expense options on state their state income tax filings.
The law also requires that businesses check the immigration status of day laborers and contains provisions regarding transportation and rental agreements.
Individuals are prohibited from transporting illegal aliens and the law even makes it illegal for an undocumented worker to enter a vehicle for a job if doing so blocks traffic. In addition, landlords are barred from knowingly entering a lease with an illegal alien.
While it has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court that it is legal to mandate that all businesses use the E-Verify system, the law’s other provisions have not been tested in court and could face legal challenges based on federal discrimination laws.
The measure’s original sponsor, Representative Micky Hammon, said the bill was carefully drafted to be fully constitutional.
“This is a jobs bill. We have a problem with an illegal workforce that displaces Alabama workers. We need to put those people back to work. That’s the No.1 priority,” said Senator Scott Beason, the sponsor of the bill in the Alabama Senate.
To help small business comply with the new law, the bill provides employers with less than twenty-five employees with a designated agent that can check the immigration status of new hires on the company’s behalf.
