State must require E-Verify system
I address one of several inaccuracies in Perla Trevizo’s July 24 story “States get tough on illegal immigration.”
Tennessee didn’t pass any law requiring employers to verify anyone’s authorization to work in this country. Our state legislators passed a hiring law this year and spent a lot of time trying to fool us about it.
Tennessee doesn’t require that any employer – not even the state – use the federal E-Verify system or verify any documents that prospective hires show in work authorization.
Driver’s licenses aren’t proof of work authorization. Illegal aliens have obtained Tennessee driver’s licenses, though they aren’t supposed to get them. Some lawfully present foreign nationals can legally obtain driver’s licenses yet be unauthorized to work here.
Tennessee’s laws are written as loopholes for the business lobby, as an enabler to illegal labor.