Contacts: Kathy Bird Carvajal, kathy@impacfund.org, 786-210-9030 Mariana Castro, mariana@impacfund.org, 470-269-4962 Towson Fraser, Towson@fllobby.com, 850-443-1444
FACT SHEET: SB 1822 Gruters/HB 1265 Byrd de facto “E-Verify” Legislation Mandates Private Employers Use of E-Verify or REAL ID
Introduced in the Florida legislature in January 2020, SB 1822/HB 1265 is a de facto E-Verify mandate on virtually every employer in Florida. If passed, this unfunded, anti-business mandate will effectively force employers to do the government’s job for them by requiring every business in our state to use a federal system with a 12 percent error rate that has proven to be inefficient, inaccurate and ineffective. The end result of mandatory E-Verify in Florida would be the stifling of local businesses, decimation of the workforce, and devastation of our economy.
FORCES EMPLOYERS TO DO GOVERNMENT’S JOB & IMPOSES STEALTH TAX ON FLORIDA BUSINESSES TO COVER COSTS OF EXPANDED MANDATE
- Forces Florida to set up its own duplicative, bureaucratic system of employment eligibility verification for every person hired and requires the state to oversee and authorize every single hiring decision made by every single private employer, in addition to the federal oversight already in effect.
- Provides no resources to the hundreds of public entities burdened with compliance and enforcement under E-Verify expansion, making it an unfunded mandate, and shifts the government’s responsibility for verification to private businesses.
- Effectively creates a stealth tax on every Florida business and imposes a huge financial burden on local nonprofits & small businesses, such as convenience stores, home healthcare and assisted living businesses– costs which will ultimately be passed on to consumers.
PLACES ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS AND BURDENS ON PRIVATE & PUBLIC EMPLOYERS
- Essentially mandates E-Verify by making it or other more onerous options, like REAL ID, mandatory for employment eligibility for private employers in the State of Florida.
- Requires employment applicants to produce documents from an artificially narrowed list and prohibits them from choosing from among the existing federal list of acceptable documents. These requirements would apply to US Citizens, some of whom may not have a REAL ID driver’s license and therefore may risk losing their jobs although work authorized.
- Duplicates existing regulations for state employees and contractors and expands them for all public entities including regional, county, municipal, school districts.
HARMS ALL FLORIDA RESIDENTS, INCLUDING CITIZENS & WORK-AUTHORIZED IMMIGRANTS
- Gives employers the ability to violate federal law by using E-Verify to screen applications prior to the interview process and prior to a hiring decision being made, and does not afford the same rights to employees as to employers, including the right to challenge a decision.
- Imposes criminal penalties on violators and narrows the list of acceptable documents a new employee can present, potentially in violation of federal law and opening the State up to lawsuits.
- By requiring REAL IDs in order to comply with verification standards, negatively impacts documented Floridians who have not yet updated to a REAL ID, citizens returning from abroad, those with their driver’s licenses suspended, homeless residents, and other vulnerable communities in their efforts to secure gainful employment.
The American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) promotes commonsense immigration reform that advances economic competitiveness, provides American companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens. For more information please visit https://abic.us.
The Immigration Partnership and Coalition (IMPAC) Fund works to change public policy around immigration through building a coalition of reasonable, rational moderates to facilitate bipartisan action that is economically necessary, politically smart, and morally correct. Learn more at https://impacfund.org.