Fact of the Week: 10/05/07

Friday, October 5, 2007

Did you know . . .

The Department of Homeland Security has filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois seeking to overturn a new Illinois law prohibiting employers operating in the state from participating in the federal employment verification system known as “Basic Pilot” until certain benchmarks for accuracy are met.  

  • While sharing Illinois’ concerns about the accuracy of Basic Pilot, the HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce supports the concept of Federal preemption.  
  • Congress has expressly preempted state and local governments from enacting laws on immigration enforcement and eligibility verification at the worksite.
  • Presently, 17 states have enacted employment eligibility verification laws, yet the requirements are not always consistent.  
  • The growing patchwork of uncoordinated state employment verification rules and regulations is impacting the ability of U.S. employers to maintain consistent hiring policies and is undermining the development of a coherent national policy.

The Federal Government should be consistent by opposing ALL state laws that interfere with the Federal role in immigration enforcement and employment eligibility.

 

Developing an Efficient and Foolproof System to Ensure a Legal Workforce is the Key to an Effective Immigration Policy

 

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The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (www.legal-workforce.org) represents human resource professionals in thousands of small and large U.S. employers representing every sector of the American economy.  The HR Initiative and its members are seeking to improve the current process of employment verification by creating a secure, efficient and reliable system that will ensure a legal workforce and help prevent unauthorized employment, a root cause of illegal immigration.