{"id":12377,"date":"2025-10-20T14:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/12377\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:44:30","slug":"pinellas-republican-re-files-bill-that-would-require-all-employers-to-use-e-verify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/12377\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinellas Republican re-files bill that would require all employers to use E-Verify"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RepresentativeRep. Berny Jacques Credit: State of Florida<\/a><\/p>\n

A Florida Republican on Thursday re-filed a bill from last year requiring all private employers to use a federal database verifying whether new hires are legally in the country.<\/p>\n

Rep. Berny Jacques, a Seminole Republican, issued\u00a0HB 197<\/a>\u00a0to mandate all private businesses use E-Verify, a federally operated system allowing employers to electronically verify whether new employees can legally work in the United States. Florida already requires all public agencies, their contractors, and their subcontractors to use E-Verify.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeginning on July 1, 2026, a private employer shall use the E-Verify system to verify a new employee\u2019s employment eligibility,\u201d the bill reads, striking existing language that only requires businesses with at least 25 employees to use E-Verify.<\/p>\n

More than 475,000 small businesses in Florida have fewer than 20 employees, according to a 2025 report by the\u00a0Small Business Administration.<\/a>\u00a0Not counting businesses without employees \u2014 of which there are more than 2 million \u2014 there are fewer than 518,000 total small businesses employing one to 499 Floridians.<\/p>\n

Jacques had tried to pass this measure during the 2025 session, but its Senate version stalled. Jacques\u2019 bill, meanwhile, passed the House Floor with bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to passing this in the House again and urge the Senate to join us in this effort,\u201d Jacques told the Phoenix in a text message.<\/p>\n

E-Verify in Florida<\/p>\n

Immigration has been a headlining topic for Florida Republicans in recent years, dominating the past few sessions.<\/p>\n

In 2023, former senator \u2014 now Chief Financial Officer \u2014 Blaise Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican, sponsored a massive immigration crackdown. The sweeping law required private businesses with at least 25 employees to use E-Verify and mandated Medicaid-accepting hospitals to question whether patients are citizens and report that information quarterly to the state.<\/p>\n

During the 2025 session, GOP lawmakers upped the ante with another immigration package, this time forcing all counties to partner with ICE, removing in-state tuition for undocumented college students, and creating a state-level crime of illegally entering Florida.<\/p>\n

The anti-undocumented immigration fervor has been reflected on the national stage under President Donald Trump, who\u2019s expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement, encouraged construction of detention centers nationwide, and promised federal grants to states aiding in the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n

Last session, Sen. Jason Pizzo of Sunny Isles Beach, then a Democrat and now an independent, filed a\u00a0competing bill<\/a>\u00a0that would have severely punished businesses for flouting E-Verify requirements. Although it similarly required all private companies to use the system, it would have revoked the business license of an employer who hires an immigrant illegally in Florida and charged him tens of thousands in fines.<\/p>\n

Under existing law, the Florida Department of Commerce can fine violators $1,000 per day three times within two years, place them on probation for a year, and have them report to the department quarterly.<\/p>\n

Pizzo has yet to file a similar bill for the 2026 session. He had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publishing.<\/p>\n

Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Oct. 16 \u2013 22, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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