One way to reduce illegal immigration is to remove the situations that entice them to Florida, such as employment. Thus, if employers do more work to identify illegal immigrants during the employment application process, fewer will be able to find work.
So, the next things to do in Lake County to reduce attractions for illegal immigrants are:
- Determine if contractors and employers in Lake County are using E-verify, and
- Verify that local city, County, & School District government hiring and service contracts require
that primary contractors as well as sub-contractors use E-verify to prevent hiring illegals, and
- Ensure that employers and government agencies establish oversight functions to ENSURE that the E-verify requirements are met. This would include strong contract administration procedures, human resources procedures and internal audits. For instance, right now, the County Board has NO PLANS to have the new Judicial Center audited by internal auditors, so this will not be done.
Hopefully, using E-verify and other actions will reduce inbound migration of illegal immigrants who take jobs from your kids, friend and relatives.
We will help improve the hiring prospects for local CITIZENS by following up and examining government contracts for the necessary E-verify requirements, and an oversight process.
See the article below for background.
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Internet tool helps employers check workers' immigration status
Enforcement crackdown spurs businesses to sign up for E-Verify
You might not realize it when you get a new job, but soon your name may be checked against a government database to answer the question: Are you an illegal immigrant?
Thousands of employers in Florida and tens of thousands nationwide have enrolled in a voluntary government program known as E-Verify, which allows them to find out whether their new hires are entitled to work in the U.S.
Hundreds of companies and institutions in Central Florida — ranging from Westgate Resorts and Dunkin Donuts shops to St. Cloud government and Orange County Public Schools — have joined the program.
They include businesses in the hospitality, restaurant and construction industries, where many undocumented immigrants have found employment.
Given the recent immigration debate and the push for enforcement, many contracts for construction work have even required immigration checks. Federal contracts require them.
"You [construction companies] have binding contracts where you state that all of your employees are legal to work in the United States," said Debbie Crowe, an office manager with All-Rite Fence Co. in west Orlando, which signed up for E-Verify. "This is another way to verify along with Social Security cards."
The electronic-verification system is one of the new fronts in the government's fight against illegal immigration. The use of such safeguards is expected to grow as the Obama administration shifts enforcement to work sites and as legislators prepare more immigration reform that could include more accountability requirements.
Immigration officials are encouraging more companies to join the program, and a few states have made status checks mandatory.
"Employers have everything to gain and nothing to lose using E-Verify. It's a smart, simple, free and effective online tool that helps businesses maintain a legal work force," said Sharon Scheidhauer, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that administers the program. "E-Verify is growing and beginning to sell itself as employers discover how user-friendly and fast it is to verify employment eligibility."
More Florida companies are acting pre-emptively to comply with the law, before they find themselves under inspection by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. From 2008 to 2009, the number of Florida employers enrolled in E-Verify grew by 86 percent to 6,389 enrollees. Another 1,400 Florida employers have signed up since, according to figures from immigration services.
