Republican lawmakers in Arizona are moving forward a collection of bills against illegal immigrants and their activities in the state. One in particular, House Concurrent Resolution (HRC) 2060it has the potential to disrupt all sorts of peaceful economic interactions.
Arizona law requires that all employers use the federal E-Verify program to ensure that hired employees are eligible to work in the United States. HCR 2060 would add to existing requirements by requiring employers to use E-Verify to verify the legal status of subcontractors and independent contractors. Non-compliant employers might face felony charges and $10,000 fines per undocumented employee.
HCR 2060 has already passed the Arizona House. If it passes the Senate, it will appear on the ballot in November. And although its sponsor, House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Glendale), He says the proposal would prevent “Arizona from becoming like California” and prevent illegal immigrants from “tak[ing] benefit Americans,” many Arizonans are concerned about its economic consequences.
This includes more than 100 Arizona business, faith and community representatives, who charged in a open letter tell politicians that “anti-immigration proposals” being considered by the Legislature “will cause unnecessary hardship to the workforce.” Given that “Arizona currently has only 71 available workers for every 100 open jobs,” the letter asks elected officials “to support legal work permits for long-term immigrant contributors” rather than participate in “political games “.
For all the support E-Verify receives state AND national politicians, the employment verification system has many disadvantages. His costly (especially for small businesses), negatively hits less skilled native workers, and it’s easy to play with. Rather than only target undocumented immigrants who want to work, it punishes employers for consensual hiring practices and forces native-born workers to get yet another authorization form do your job and live your life.
“Nationally, the increase in E-Verify requests has not coincided with any significant reduction in the number of illegal workers,” he wrote David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, in 2019. “From 2007 to 2016, the number of illegal workers hovered around 8 million, even though the number of E-Verify applications has increased tenfold….The only independent The audit of the E-Verify system in 2012 concluded that half of all illegal workers passing through the system managed to escape detection, mainly by borrowing identification legal workers.”
“The E-Verify program has made significant improvements over the years,” says Sam Peak, senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian advocacy group. “Nevertheless, making it mandatory for more people likely exposes them to a lot of uncertainty that could disrupt the hiring process.”
HCR 2060’s vague language could also leave the door open for Arizonans to face legal consequences, perhaps unknowingly, if businesses they patronize fail to comply with E-Verify mandates. According to the text of the resolution, any person who “commits an obstruction of the legal obligation to use E-Verify”, including acts “in association with any person who has the intent to hinder, impair or prevent any person from using the E-Verify program as required by law,” is “guilty of a class 6 felony.”
What exactly is the sentence in collaboration with it means it’s not clear. “What happens if a family knowingly hires a roofing company that does not use E-Verify?” Peak asks.
Mandating E-Verify on more Arizona workers will inevitably lead to headaches and increased compliance costs for employers and consumers. Voters would do well to remember these consequences if HCR 2060 appears on the ballot in November.