So, we’re back from the SHRM conference in Hattiesburg. We’ll spare the “good time was had by all” commentary, though it was a nice time.
Here’s some random E-Verify/EEV things we picked up.
1. While conservative talk radio tends to be talk about this more than mainstream people, this was a topic mentioned by every caller to the various local call-in shows about politics. As we’ve seen other places, the people talking about it in Mississippi tend to focus more on the illegal worker than the company that hires them illegally. The EPA, with its 1-5 years in prison for being an illegal immigrant, is reflective of this.
2. Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant was on one of the call-in shows. We don’t claim to be experts in Mississippi politics, but we found it interesting that Bryant said he doesn’t think the law needs any modifications, while the governor, Haley Barbour, signed the bill into law with reservations and hoped the state legislature would make some revisions. We think this will ultimately result in stalemate, at least until the business groups get their act together and start pushing. It also looks like a special session of the Ledge will deal with healthcare, rather than this bill.
3. No one has any idea what’s going to happen. In separate conversations with attorneys, SSA employees and private employers, no one has yet put together a roadmap. This isn’t entirely surprising, given the law’s recent advent and the fact that the first stage of implementation doesn’t hit for eight more weeks.
4. The most common questions about the experience in Arizona were:
1. How long does it take to resolve a tentative non-confirmation? (Answer: The hire gets 10 federal days, but our clients are seeing an average resolution time of 5 five days)
2. Are employers using it to go back and check current hires? (The DHS-employer MOU specifically forbids this, with the punishment being that an employer won’t be allowed to use E-Verify)
3. Has anyone been prosecuted in Arizona? (Not yet. The Arizona Republic has a nice story here about that).
Tags: arizona, e-verify, Mississippi
