Lawmakers in the Texas legislature are currently considering legislation that would require all employers to validate that their new hires are not illegal aliens residing in the United States.
Last month, State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R) introduced SB 1621, identical to State Rep. Steve Toth’s (R) HB 3846, which would mandate E-Verify — the online system that allows employers to ensure their new hires are American citizens or legal immigrants — for all businesses in Texas.
NumbersUSA’s James Massa testified before the legislature’s Senate Business and Commerce Committee, calling mandatory E-Verify “the most effective and most cost-effective method that the state of Texas can implement to be able to stem the flow of illegal immigrants,” among other things.
“[Mandatory E-Verify] ensure[s] that U.S. citizens and those that have valid work permits in the state of Texas are the ones who get the jobs in this economy of this great state,” Massa continued:
E-Verify also ensures that illegal workers are not working at subpar wages or that their children are not working in unsafe conditions. [Emphasis added]
RJ Hauman, a public affairs strategist who is a visiting adviser at the Heritage Foundation, as well as a consultant for Texans for Strong Borders, told the committee that Texas “has no choice but to act decisively to address a historic crisis being intentionally exacerbated by the actions of the federal government.”
“Your constituents are depending on you,” Hauman said:
In addition to disincentivizing illegal immigration, it also helps protect Americans from identity theft and removes the competitive disadvantage that employers have by hiring legal labor. Regardless of how secure we make the border, if illegal aliens can easily obtain gainful employment, they will continue to find their way into the state of Texas in large numbers. SB 1621 removes this important driver of illegal immigration and protects American workers. If you truly want to end the crisis ravaging the state, turn off the jobs magnet. It’s that simple. [Emphasis added]
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has been pressed by opponents of illegal immigration to support the legislation. Republicans currently hold majorities in the State House and State Senate of the Texas legislature.
For decades, across red states, big business interests have fought tirelessly to stop mandatory E-Verify as their wide profit margins rely on hiring cheap, illegal labor against the interests of working and middle-class residents.
The result, Massa said, is that taxpayers are left footing the bill.
“Businesses that hire people for unfair lower wages reap the profit and the rest of society pays for the costs of those people to be in society,” Massa said.
A newly published survey from Rasmussen Reports, commissioned by NumbersUSA, shows widespread support for mandatory E-Verify among likely Texas voters. For example, 71 percent of all likely Texas voters said they back mandatory E-Verify — including 74 percent of white Texans, 59 percent of black Texans, and 65 percent of Hispanic Texans.
Similarly, 56 percent of Democrats in Texas said they support requiring employers to use E-Verify for all new hires, along with 82 percent of Republicans, and 70 percent of swing voters.
Some eight million illegal aliens hold jobs in the U.S. economy, even as nearly 11 million Americans remain jobless and another 4.1 million are underemployed.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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