CHEHALIS, Wash. (AP) — Lewis County is the latest local government in Washington to require contractors to use E-verify, the federal program that checks eligibility to work in the United States.
KITI reports it passed the county commission Monday despite the unexpected opposition of Republican Commissioner Bill Schulte.
He says E-verify is ineffective because it checks only that a legal Social Security number matches a name, but it doesn’t check who may be using that identity. Schulte favors of guest worker program but says immigration reform is a federal issue.
E-Verify is free online program run by the Department of Homeland Security. It has been adopted in Clark, Pierce and Whatcom counties. It was rejected by the Yakima City Council.
