This month, the Pennsylvania Senate will vote on H.B. 1170: a bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan majority in the State House in June with a vote of 170 to 28.

If H.B. 1170 passes in the Senate and with Governor Tom Wolf, the bill will create the Construction Industry Employee Verification Act. This act would require all construction contractors working in Pennsylvania to use E-Verify.

E-Verify is a free, fast, and accurate web-based system that confirms whether or not workers are authorized to work in the United States. E-Verify expanded upon the I-9 form that is still required today that was established in the 1980s under the Immigration Reform and Control Act. While the I-9 form is mandatory and asks for two forms of identification, technological advancements and a lack of enforcement have led to an outdated system. E-Verify however has the capability to fill in where the I-9 lacks.

E-Verify targets illegal hiring practices of U.S. employers who abuse the outdated I-9 system. As a result, construction workers’ wages are driven lower. Also, employers illegally hire and exploit undocumented workers who come to the United States for its jobs by paying them less and putting them in less safe work environments.  Without E-Verify, employers can falsify employees’ I-9 forms and knowingly hire ineligible workers with no accountability. E-Verify is an important step towards comprehensive immigration reform.

Implementing E-Verify would protect workers and protect middle class construction jobs. If E-Verify applied to construction in Pennsylvania, contractors found in violation of hiring laws twice would lose their business license.

E-Verify will positively impact Pennsylvania by…

• Upholding pay and benefit standards in construction
• Preventing employers from driving down construction wages
• Enforcing existing hiring laws
• Stopping employers from exploiting undocumented workers
• Advancing comprehensive immigration reform