Terrill Urges Illegal Worker Monitoring

State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, wants the Oklahoma Department of Labor to monitor the citizenship status of workers. He said such monitoring would ensure that businesses don't violate state and federal labor laws by knowingly or willfully employing illegal aliens. He said illegal aliens "will not come to or stay in Oklahoma if there are no jobs available for them." Terrill proposes to verify an employee's citizenship status through a federal database and companies that failed to make a good-faith effort to verify the legal status of employees would face state criminal and civil penalties. The Department of Labor would be responsible for assessing graduated financial penalties against employers. Fines collected would be deposited into a revolving fund to reinvested in employer-related immigration compliance efforts. If an illegal alien obtained benefits or services of any kind, the employer would be required to repay the cost of those services to state agencies and private businesses through a separate civil remedy including, but not limited to, tax liens and wage garnishments.

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