Bill would require e-Verify on relatives

Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee have pointed out an aspect of SB 1303 that concerns them: It’d require e-Verify checks even on an employer’s own family members. “Most of our businesses are small family businesses,” Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. “This bill says if I want to hire my son, I have to go through the e-Verify system. I know where he was born - I was there,” he said to laughter. “Help me feel comfortable that this big-state, big-city fix works for my little state and my small employers.

University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Kris Kobach responded, “The bill doesn’t say it, but in effect it … does. … Once you use e-Verify, you have to use e-Verify for everybody.” He added, “However, there’s a huge advantage that offsets that, and that is everybody is treated equally. … Everybody’s run through the system.” He told Davis such a check “only takes as long as it takes you to type in your son’s name, date of birth and Social Security number. … It forces everybody to be treated equally.” Kobach also contended small businesses wouldn’t see much problem with using the system, which would require just completion of a one- to three-hour computer tutorial for set-up. If a business owner didn’t have a computer, that business could hire someone to do the e-Verify checks for it at a low cost, he said.