The Iowa State House voted to impose tougher penalties on businesses whose owners knowingly hire an undocumented worker. The bill also plans on stopping the “independent contractor” jobs that many undocumented workers take because they are not allowed to work. Many construction companies would pay the workers cash and label them “independent contractors.” The undocumented would also be unable to bail themselves out of jail.
House File 2686 would detain undocumented people who have been arrested until the charges are resolved or until federal officials take them. The bill passed the House 82-16 and House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, (D-Des Moines) said that Democrats are sending a message to the federal government to deal with the issue of immigration. The few opponents the bill had argued that the bill overreacted and some Republicans argued “it was political cover.”
House Minority Leader, Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City) told the Des Moines Register that the bill passed, with some Republicans calling it a ploy during an election year but that one didn’t “need to worry that this will ever become law or reach the governor’s desk.”
The bill requires employers to check driver’s licenses or id’s from Iowa or its surrounding areas. Businesses have ten days to verify and must sign a “penalty of perjury” form that the person is “facially validated.”
However, please note that the bill still needs to pass the Iowa Senate and be signed by the governor before it can become law.
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