LEWISTON, Idaho—An Idaho lawmaker is pushing a bill that would protect employers who unknowingly hire undocumented workers, as long as they use a federal employment verification system. The proposal sparked intense debate during a House committee hearing.
The House Business Committee on Monday considered House Bill 704, which would require Idaho businesses to use E-Verify, a federal system that checks whether employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.
Rep. Kyle Harris also introduced House Bill 700, which would “shield… Employers who verify work authorization through the federal E-Verify system before hiring and receive confirmation….and may raise good-faith compliance as an affirmative defense.”
“Polling indicates that an increasing majority of Americans want to see employers who rely on illegal alien labor punished for using that labor,” Harris told the committee.
Harris said several states, including Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Missouri, have enacted similar measures.
However, Vice Chair Josh Wheeler questioned the reliability of E-Verify and whether the proposal would grant too much protection to employers.
“Why are we going to grant sort of that near immunity to employers who are making use of a flawed federal system?” Wheeler said. “Is that giving up our state sovereignty.”
Harris pushed back, arguing that E-Verify is more reliable than critics suggest.
“We’re just asking people to do their level best to try and not hire illegal immigrants within the state of Idaho, and using E-Verify is the best process,” he said.
Carlos Vidales, who said he became a U.S. citizen four years ago, testified in support of the legislation, arguing that stricter enforcement would reduce incentives for undocumented immigration.
“Illegal immigrants keep coming because employers hire them,” Vidales said. “They would not come otherwise. Why do we have laws when breaking them has no consequences?”
Opponents said the bill pressures employers to rely on a federal system and creates state-level criminal penalties for an area already regulated by federal law.
“At its core, this bill is seeking compliance with a carrot and a stick,” Nissa Nagel said. “It creates criminality for something that is already regulated by the federal government and then dangles that you won’t face charges if you use the system we tell you to use.”
Harris said the measure is about accountability rather than economics.
“Often we keep looking only at the economic impact from agriculture and construction and house cleaning,” he said. “All I’m asking for is the simple accountability to charge the people that are knowingly committing a crime with that crime.”
The committee voted to move the bill forward to the full House for consideration.
