(The Center Square) – Ohio lawmakers are taking another swing at forcing contractors to verify immigration status of their workers.
House Bill 246, scheduled for its second hearing Wednesday in the House Commerce and Labor Committee, would require contractors and subcontractors working on state or local public projects or in nonresidential construction to use the federal system to determine immigration status.
For sponsor D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, the idea is commonsense.
“This legislation protects employers by equipping them with the tools they need to ensure they are following the law in their employment practices,” Swearingen said. “Our state is home to thousands of skilled and talented Ohioans that are ready to get to work and this bill will provide them that opportunity.”
E-Verify is a free internet-based program that verifies a new employee’s work permit, visa and citizenship within three to five seconds.
Last June, the same legislation easily passed the House with strong bipartisan support 85-6.
Both the Ohio Contractors Association and the Associated General Contractors of Ohio opposed that bill, saying inconsistency – such as targeting general contractors and not residential contractors – were in the bill that stalled for six months in the Senate until the session ended.
The reintroduction of Ohio’s E-Verify proposal comes at the same time a new poll from Napolitan News Service showed a large majority of registered voters say requiring U.S. employers to verify the workers they hire are in the U.S. legally would be more effective at causing noncitizens in the country illegally to leave than using taxpayer money to provide stipends and buy them plane tickets.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this month announced a plan to provide noncitizens in the U.S. illegally with travel assistance and a $1,000 stipend if they self-deport.
But 70% of voters surveyed said that verifying workers legal status would be more effective than the Trump administration’s plan.
