Mar
21
Lawmakers across the US want more laws passed to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Legislators in states including Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma are considering a number of options to deal with the problem, including prohibiting violators from obtaining state contracts, fining businesses and suspending their licenses, and requiring the signing of affidavits by employers stating they do not knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Despite the fact that a 20-year-old federal law already exists prohibiting businesses from knowingly employing illegal immigrants, the legislators accuse the federal government of not doing enough.
Republican state Sen. Chris Koster of Missouri is the sponsor of a proposal that would require employers to electronically verify the eligibility of their workers before hiring them.
Koster says, “The feds are so woefully behind. To sit around and wait for federal action on this is like waiting for Santa Claus.”