Has the Time Come For E-Verify in Idaho?

Two competing bills have been introduced thus far this session.

Last year, after watching numerous bills related to immigration enforcement fail in the legislative session, I wrote and carried a resolution to the Idaho GOP Winter Meeting calling for stricter enforcement. A provision mandating E‑Verify for all Idaho employers was removed by the body due to concerns about state sovereignty, federal overreach, and the risk of false positives. The party approved the remaining provisions, many of which were unveiled yesterday by Rep. Dale Hawkins, Sen. Brian Lenney, and others at a press conference last night.

Even so, I believe E‑Verify is an important component of immigration enforcement. Remember when ICE apprehended an illegal alien at a farm owned by Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen’s family last year? He had been accused of possessing drugs and assaulting his wife. It’s still unclear whether he entered the U.S. illegally or came on a temporary visa and overstayed, so I can’t say whether mandatory E‑Verify would have stopped him. However, I believe it would significantly reduce the number of illegal aliens currently employed and, perhaps more importantly, shift liability from employers to the federal government.

Farm and dairy owners have testified that they are hesitant to question a prospective employee’s documentation for fear of civil rights lawsuits. Requiring employers to use E‑Verify means they would check that documentation against a federal database. If the employee is flagged as being here illegally, they can be denied employment. If they are flagged as legal but have committed identity theft, the responsibility lies with the government, not the employer.

It really is a win/win situation.

Two competing E‑Verify bills have been introduced this past week: one in the Senate and one in the House. Yet they differ significantly in scope and approach.

On the west side of the rotunda, Sen. Mark Harris sponsored Senate Bill 1247, the Idaho E‑Verify Act. This bill would require any private employer with 150 or more employees and state contracts valued at $100,000 or more to use E‑Verify for all new hires.

How many businesses this would cover is an open question. I wager that most illegal aliens working in Idaho are in the agriculture and hospitality industries. How many companies in these industries employ more than 150 people and hold six-figure state contracts?

In any case, Gov. Butch Otter issued an executive order in 2009 requiring Idaho state agencies to implement safeguards ensuring that all employees were citizens or had legal status, and that private companies contracting with the state do the same. This raises the question: how much would S1247 actually change?

The other bill, introduced by Rep. Jordan Redman on Tuesday, is House Bill 584. It would make it explicitly unlawful for any business to hire an illegal alien and require all businesses to use E‑Verify as part of pre-employment checks. During the print hearing, Rep. Cornel Rasor expressed concern about certain carve-outs in the bill, noting he would discuss them in detail during the full hearing. One exception I noticed is that it does not apply to independent contractors, including domestic household staff.

Neither bill has had a full hearing yet, so it will be interesting to watch their progress. H584 is clearly the stronger piece of legislation. S1247 appears to be a minimal-effort bill, allowing lawmakers to claim they addressed the issue without actually changing the status quo. It reminds me of Sen. Dave Lent’s “school choice” bill , which was so bad it was demolished on the Senate floor 6‑28‑1, while the school choice tax credit passed 20‑15.

I don’t think E‑Verify is perfect, nor is it a panacea that will singlehandedly fix our immigration system. It is, however, an important tool for enforcing immigration law. Shut down the opportunities for illegal aliens to gain employment, and they will stop crossing our borders illegally or overstaying their visas. If we don’t enforce the law, what’s the point of having laws at all?

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