Bill cracking down on undocumented workers moving through House
Tighter rules designed to ensure that workers are in the United States legally cleared its second House committee in a week on Wednesday.
Posted — UpdatedAfter push-back from agricultural interests during the past legislative session, Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow, said the bill would exempt farm workers from the requirement for background checks.
It would also emphasize that state and local governments should be ensuring that contractors use E-verify.
"The Commissioner of Labor is going to check that government entities are following the law and if not, they're going to put it on their web site," Cleveland told members of the House Judiciary IV Committee.
The measure also makes it illegal to use consular or embassy documents for any government purpose, including identifying yourself to a police officer.
In North Carolina, matricula consular cards issued by the Mexican embassy have been the subject of much dispute, with groups that push for tighter immigration standards pushing for their elimination from use in public life.
"Anyone that has to have a consular card is here illegally," Cleveland said.
Their use in the 1990s and early 2000s created "a mess" for the state, particularly when it came to issuing drivers licenses he said.
"We haven’t taken an official position on this bill," said Angeline Echeverria, a spokeswoman for El Pueblo, a group that lobbies on behalf of Hispanic and Latino residents. "In our experience, the use of consular documents as identification has been very beneficial for members of the immigrant community. People who have identification documents that will be accepted are often more willing to interact with the police as witnesses or victims of crime; are more likely to visit their children’s schools; and are less likely to be victims of crime because they can open bank accounts."
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