| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to requiring certain public and private employers in this |
|
|
state to participate in the federal electronic verification of |
|
|
employment authorization program, or E-verify, and notice |
|
|
regarding certain persons whose eligibility to work in the United |
|
|
States cannot be verified; creating a criminal offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 673, Government Code, is transferred to |
|
|
Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, redesignated as Chapter 621, |
|
|
Government Code, and amended to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 621 [673]. VERIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE INFORMATION |
|
|
Sec. 621.001 [673.001]. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
|
|
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public |
|
|
Safety. |
|
|
(2) "E-verify program" means the electronic |
|
|
verification of employment authorization program of the federal |
|
|
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 |
|
|
(Pub. L. No. 104-208, reprinted in note, 8 U.S.C. Section 1324a), |
|
|
operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or a |
|
|
successor employment authorization program designated by the |
|
|
United States Department of Homeland Security or other federal |
|
|
agency authorized to verify the employment authorization status of |
|
|
newly hired employees under the federal Immigration Reform and |
|
|
Control Act of 1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.). |
|
|
(3) "Governmental entity" means a state agency or |
|
|
political subdivision of this state. |
|
|
(4) "Person not lawfully present" has the meaning |
|
|
assigned by Section 53.001, Labor Code. |
|
|
[(2) "State agency" has the meaning assigned by |
|
|
Section 659.101.] |
|
|
Sec. 621.002 [673.002]. VERIFICATION. A governmental |
|
|
entity [state agency] shall register and participate in the |
|
|
E-verify program to verify information of all new employees. |
|
|
Sec. 621.003 [673.003]. RULES. The Texas Workforce |
|
|
Commission shall adopt rules and prescribe forms to implement this |
|
|
chapter. |
|
|
Sec. 621.004. NOTICE. (a) A governmental entity that |
|
|
receives notice from a federal agency authorized to operate the |
|
|
E-verify program that the agency attempted but was not able to |
|
|
verify that a person seeking employment with the entity is not a |
|
|
person not lawfully present shall, not later than the fifth day |
|
|
after the date of receiving the notice, forward the contents of the |
|
|
notice to the department. |
|
|
(b) On receipt of a notice forwarded by a governmental |
|
|
entity under Subsection (a), the department shall determine whether |
|
|
the person who is the subject of the notice may be a person not |
|
|
lawfully present. If the department determines that the person may |
|
|
be a person not lawfully present, the department shall notify the |
|
|
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement of its |
|
|
determination. |
|
|
(c) The department may adopt rules necessary to implement |
|
|
this section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subtitle B, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Chapter 53 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 53. EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT |
|
|
Sec. 53.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
|
|
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public |
|
|
Safety. |
|
|
(2) "Employee" means an individual who is employed by |
|
|
an employer for compensation. The term includes an individual |
|
|
employed on a part-time basis. |
|
|
(3) "Employer" means a person, other than a |
|
|
governmental entity, who: |
|
|
(A) employs at least one employee; or |
|
|
(B) acts directly or indirectly in the interests |
|
|
of an employer in relation to an employee. |
|
|
(4) "E-verify program" has the meaning assigned by |
|
|
Section 673.001, Government Code. |
|
|
(5) "Person not lawfully present" means a person who, |
|
|
at the time of employment, is not: |
|
|
(A) a citizen or national of the United States; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(B) an alien who is lawfully admitted for |
|
|
permanent residence in the United States under the federal |
|
|
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.) or |
|
|
authorized to be employed by that Act or by the United States |
|
|
attorney general. |
|
|
Sec. 53.002. VERIFICATION. An employer shall register and |
|
|
participate in the E-verify program to verify information of all |
|
|
new employees. |
|
|
Sec. 53.003. NOTICE. (a) An employer that receives notice |
|
|
from a federal agency authorized to operate the E-verify program |
|
|
that the agency attempted but was not able to verify that a person |
|
|
seeking employment with the employer is not a person not lawfully |
|
|
present shall, not later than the fifth day after the date of |
|
|
receiving the notice, forward the contents of the notice to the |
|
|
department. |
|
|
(b) On receipt of a notice forwarded by an employer under |
|
|
Subsection (a), the department shall determine whether the person |
|
|
who is the subject of the notice may be a person not lawfully |
|
|
present. If the department determines that the person may be a |
|
|
person not lawfully present, the department shall notify the United |
|
|
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement of its determination. |
|
|
(c) The department may adopt rules necessary to implement |
|
|
this section. |
|
|
Sec. 53.004. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) An employer commits an |
|
|
offense if the employer violates this chapter. |
|
|
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
(c) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section |
|
|
that the employer classified the person not lawfully present as an |
|
|
independent contractor if the person was not properly classified in |
|
|
accordance with Chapter 201. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026. |