TRENTON, NJ—A bill submitted for approval in the New Jersey legislature seeks to fine business owners who hire undocumented migrants. Assemblyman Alex Sauickie has been waiting to move the bill in the legislature, and it seeks to penalize local business owners.
Business owners who repeatedly violate the law would be subject to losing their New Jersey business license.
The bill seeks to force all employers to verify the employment eligibility of prospective employees through the E-Verify program. This electronic verification system, administered by the United States Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, aims to ensure all employees are authorized to work in the United States. The bill states that businesses with 100 or more employees must adhere to this mandate.
Similarly, smaller employers with fewer than 100 employees must comply by the same deadline.
The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development is tasked with establishing a Statewide random auditing program to monitor private employers’ adherence to the E-Verify requirement. Furthermore, the commissioner is authorized to investigate any employer upon receiving a credible complaint or if there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation of the E-Verify mandate has occurred.
Employers found breaching the E-Verify requirement could face a civil penalty ranging from $100 to $1,000. However, first-time offenders can avoid a penalty if they achieve compliance within seventy-two hours of the commissioner’s notification. Should an employer re-offend, they will incur a civil penalty unless they have remained violation-free for the past five years, in which case the subsequent offense is considered a first offense.
The legislation also clamps down on the employment of unauthorized aliens, imposing significant penalties on employers who knowingly or intentionally hire such individuals. On the first offence of knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens, the employer must terminate the unauthorized employee(s) and undergo a three-year probation. During this probation, the employer must report new hires quarterly and submit a sworn affidavit within three days of the court’s order. Failure to submit the affidavit may result in suspending the employer’s business license.
In cases of intentional hiring of unauthorized aliens, the employer faces even stricter penalties, including a five-year probation period and a minimum ten-day business license suspension. A second violation for knowingly or intentionally employing unauthorized aliens leads to the permanent revocation of the employer’s business licenses by the State or any of its political subdivisions.