The owner and operator of an Alabaster, Ala. construction company was charged on Wednesday for allegedly hiring and harboring illegal aliens. Beverly Linan who owns Rodriguez Construction Company could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if found guilty on all the counts.
Despite frantic behind-the-scenes lobbying, the massive pro-illegal-worker coalition did not force a vote on the U.S. House floor Wednesday to strip from the Stimulus bill two strong new E-Verify provisions. But our NumbersUSA Hill Team has heard a number of indications of preparations for closed-door killing of these provisions in the Senate or in a joint congressional/White House conference committee. Our job is to force this fight into the open to find out which Senators (and President) will insist on the right of unscrupulous governments and businesses to hire illegal foreign workers.
When it comes to immigration, we are living in a Wild West culture in which the outlaws feel free to strut down the street and demand that the authorities give them whatever they want. Witness Capitol Hill today. The lobbyists for a variety of industries that hire lots of illegal foreign workers are rallying their troops to phone U.S. House leaders; they hope to strip a provision of the giant stimulus bill that would require recipients to use E-Verify to keep illegal aliens from getting the new jobs. Will the good "townspeople" cower behind their curtains, or get out in the streets and insist that the House "sheriffs" run the bandits off?
The use of E-Verify as an employment screening tool topped the list of the Employment Screening Resources second annual top ten trends list. ESR is a human resources consulting firm providing pre-employment screening reports to Employers, Human Resources and Security departments. E-Verify didn't make the first list of top ten trends last year, but increased government regulation was cited as a cause for the workplace verification tool making the list in 2009.
New South Carolina legislation requires all businesses with more than 500 employees to begin checking and verifying new hires through E-Verify. Although smaller entities don't have to begin using the verification tool for at least another six months, Pickens County is requiring that all new county employees be verified, and the county's human resource director has given a strong endorsement.
