RI Lawmakers Beef Up Immigration Proposals

Rhode Island State Representative Jon Brien is strengthening an immigration reform proposal for the state assembly. Rep. Brien’s proposal has passed the Rhode Island House in the previous two years before stalling in the General Assembly. But this year’s bill expands the mandatory use of E-Verify from state agencies and vendors to private businesses.

Rep. Brien is changing the focus of the bill from being an attempt to control illegal immigration in the state to protecting jobs.

“This year, I’m not looking at this as an immigration issue. I’m looking at this as a jobs issue,” Brien said in an Associated Press article. “You have to do everything you can to ensure that any and all jobs are going to citizens and eligible workers.”

In the new proposal, Brien removed a provision that subjected business that violated immigration laws to fines from the state. Critics challenged the provision as unconstitutional. Instead, the new proposal would refer businesses that violate federal immigration policy to federal immigration authorities.

The Boston Globe has more on this story.