Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They'll be five point thirty two introduced by State Senator
Kathleen Kalth of Omaha. This has to do with immigration,
and Senator Kyuth joins us this morning, Kathleen, good morning,
go to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good Morning, Gary.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You have decided and I agree that e verify or
some system ought to be required for employers to ensure
that their employees are working legally. I was, I guess
a little bit surprised to learn that that's not already
the case. There are requirements, are there not.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, you're supposed to be legal in this country to work,
and so the state actually uses e verify, but the
private employers are not required to do it. And so
that's what this bill would do, would require every employer
to use e verified to make sure that the people
that they are hiring in their businesses are here in
this country legally.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You are also concerned, I understand about some people who
may be working are here illegally, that they may be
taken advantage of by some employers.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Right, And that's that's part of the problem. If you
are not here legally, there there could be a tendency
to abuse those employees as far as not paying them
or make them work extra hours, or just not treating
them the same way if you know that they are
here illegally, and people who are here illegally are not
going to be as comfortable reporting that and saying hey,
(01:26):
I think you are doing something that violates employment law
because they don't want to go back to wherever they
came from. So this actually will help protect people who
are employed. Make sure if they're here legally, they know, Hey,
I've got full protections for employment law. I can go
to my supervisor and say, hey, this was done to
(01:46):
me and it's not fair and it's not acceptable. So
I want to make sure that the people who are
here are working legally. What about The thing is we.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Have a go ahead, No, no, you go ahead, finish up.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well. The other thing is we have we have people
who need jobs, and we want to make sure that
those jobs are Nebraska's US citizens who are getting the
jobs that are being offered.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
One of the things I've heard from opponents of everify
over the years is that it can be scammed pretty easily.
Somebody can get a fake idea and so on. Do
you have a way to address that, you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Know, no, this is this is the first step let's
get people in the process of doing it and checking
and say, hey, listen, if you come to our state
and you want to work here, that's great. We need
to make sure that you're in the country legally. That's
kind of the first step I've heard the problems with everify.
At this point, I think something is better than nothing,
and so we'll get this set up and then if
(02:45):
there are ways to improve everify, that's something that you know,
at the federal level they can work on doing. Right now,
you Verify is free for employers to do as a
simple process, which is probably why it can be messed
around with. But right now we have absolutely no way
of knowing who here is in the state working illegally.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Right. Related to that, before we move on to another point,
but related to that, do you have you considered in
this bill that if an employer uses it and that
is found later that a person here illegally scammed the
system and was hired, that that employer would be held harmless.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, okay, that's just say if they're going through the
process and with full intent of doing it the right way,
they're not going to be held responsible if either if
I fail.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Okay, what would your bill. Do what are the teeth
in this bill?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So if someone is not doing it, they get a
fifteen days to kind of cure the issue if we
find out okay, and we'll have random audits to say, okay,
going into private employers, did you do this? Is everybody
who is employed by you, have they gone through the
eitherify process. If they haven't, they get fifteen to cure
(04:01):
the issue and kind of get a warning. And so
it's got a progressive discipline to it. If you continue
to do it, you get scheduled with more audits, and
then at a certain point, if you are actually deliberately
not participating, then you will have your license to do
business in the state will be impacted.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, the lobbyists are going to be all over everybody
on this one as they are. So what as you
laid it out, I don't understand what the objection would be.
Have you had preliminary discussions with your colleagues on this bill?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, and I mean to me, this seems like a
very common sense and easy thing to do. We're looking
at immigration and as a whole, this whole country is saying, okay, listen,
we don't want people to be here illegally, so we
need to do things. This is kind of our part
as the state to say, all right, let's make sure
that the people that we are employing that so if
(04:57):
you're employing someone who's illegal, they have much more in
sense to stay instead of going back home. We need
to make sure that we're doing our part. So I'm
a little bit surprised as so many people have been
asking about this. To me, this seems like just common
sense measures to take to make sure that we are
not contributing to the problem and employing people illegally.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, seems like it to me. You know, Jim and
I were talking earlier Kathleen that with the emphasis on
the Trump administration now on deportations and securing our border
and making sure that people are here are here illegally,
there are conversations, I would bet, and a lot of businesses,
and you know, the industries that are typically known to
(05:38):
have hired a lot of folks who are not here illegally,
they got to be wondering what they're going to do
for staffing because a lot of these people are going
to get caught and others are going to self deport yep.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So and you know, there's but we also have people
in this stat who are not working, who are using
social services, and we need to look at them. Are
you able bodied? Are you able to do it? And
I hate hearing the phrase, well, illegals will do the
jobs Americans won't do. There should be no job that
(06:10):
an American won't do. If you're hungry, you work. If
you need a place to live, you work, and you
do what it takes to support yourself and support your family.
And thanks to point out that we have a second
Chance employment program with the Corrections Department, we have people
who are coming out of prisons. We need to make
sure that they are ready day one, that they step
(06:32):
out those doors to be employed. Really really hard to
do that when people have taken jobs and they're here illegally.
So this could be a great opportunity to say, okay,
if you need workers, we have the ability to talk
to the Department of Corrections and say, let us know
how we can start working with these people who are
close to being released. Get them ready, make sure they
(06:55):
understand the business that they're going to get into, and
then work on getting them hired.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
But the Verify Bill is five thirty two that Senator
Kathleen Kauf Kathleen, thanks, always good to have you on.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Of course, thanks you have a good one.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
That's a state Senator KAUV from District thirty one.
They'll be five point thirty two introduced by State Senator
Kathleen Kalth of Omaha. This has to do with immigration,
and Senator Kyuth joins us this morning, Kathleen, good morning,
go to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good Morning, Gary.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
You have decided and I agree that e verify or
some system ought to be required for employers to ensure
that their employees are working legally. I was, I guess
a little bit surprised to learn that that's not already
the case. There are requirements, are there not.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, you're supposed to be legal in this country to work,
and so the state actually uses e verify, but the
private employers are not required to do it. And so
that's what this bill would do, would require every employer
to use e verified to make sure that the people
that they are hiring in their businesses are here in
this country legally.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You are also concerned, I understand about some people who
may be working are here illegally, that they may be
taken advantage of by some employers.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Right, And that's that's part of the problem. If you
are not here legally, there there could be a tendency
to abuse those employees as far as not paying them
or make them work extra hours, or just not treating
them the same way if you know that they are
here illegally, and people who are here illegally are not
going to be as comfortable reporting that and saying hey,
(01:26):
I think you are doing something that violates employment law
because they don't want to go back to wherever they
came from. So this actually will help protect people who
are employed. Make sure if they're here legally, they know, Hey,
I've got full protections for employment law. I can go
to my supervisor and say, hey, this was done to
(01:46):
me and it's not fair and it's not acceptable. So
I want to make sure that the people who are
here are working legally. What about The thing is we.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Have a go ahead, No, no, you go ahead, finish up.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well. The other thing is we have we have people
who need jobs, and we want to make sure that
those jobs are Nebraska's US citizens who are getting the
jobs that are being offered.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
One of the things I've heard from opponents of everify
over the years is that it can be scammed pretty easily.
Somebody can get a fake idea and so on. Do
you have a way to address that, you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Know, no, this is this is the first step let's
get people in the process of doing it and checking
and say, hey, listen, if you come to our state
and you want to work here, that's great. We need
to make sure that you're in the country legally. That's
kind of the first step I've heard the problems with everify.
At this point, I think something is better than nothing,
and so we'll get this set up and then if
(02:45):
there are ways to improve everify, that's something that you know,
at the federal level they can work on doing. Right now,
you Verify is free for employers to do as a
simple process, which is probably why it can be messed
around with. But right now we have absolutely no way
of knowing who here is in the state working illegally.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Right. Related to that, before we move on to another point,
but related to that, do you have you considered in
this bill that if an employer uses it and that
is found later that a person here illegally scammed the
system and was hired, that that employer would be held harmless.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, okay, that's just say if they're going through the
process and with full intent of doing it the right way,
they're not going to be held responsible if either if
I fail.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Okay, what would your bill. Do what are the teeth
in this bill?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So if someone is not doing it, they get a
fifteen days to kind of cure the issue if we
find out okay, and we'll have random audits to say, okay,
going into private employers, did you do this? Is everybody
who is employed by you, have they gone through the
eitherify process. If they haven't, they get fifteen to cure
(04:01):
the issue and kind of get a warning. And so
it's got a progressive discipline to it. If you continue
to do it, you get scheduled with more audits, and
then at a certain point, if you are actually deliberately
not participating, then you will have your license to do
business in the state will be impacted.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, the lobbyists are going to be all over everybody
on this one as they are. So what as you
laid it out, I don't understand what the objection would be.
Have you had preliminary discussions with your colleagues on this bill?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, and I mean to me, this seems like a
very common sense and easy thing to do. We're looking
at immigration and as a whole, this whole country is saying, okay, listen,
we don't want people to be here illegally, so we
need to do things. This is kind of our part
as the state to say, all right, let's make sure
that the people that we are employing that so if
(04:57):
you're employing someone who's illegal, they have much more in
sense to stay instead of going back home. We need
to make sure that we're doing our part. So I'm
a little bit surprised as so many people have been
asking about this. To me, this seems like just common
sense measures to take to make sure that we are
not contributing to the problem and employing people illegally.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, seems like it to me. You know, Jim and
I were talking earlier Kathleen that with the emphasis on
the Trump administration now on deportations and securing our border
and making sure that people are here are here illegally,
there are conversations, I would bet, and a lot of businesses,
and you know, the industries that are typically known to
(05:38):
have hired a lot of folks who are not here illegally,
they got to be wondering what they're going to do
for staffing because a lot of these people are going
to get caught and others are going to self deport yep.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So and you know, there's but we also have people
in this stat who are not working, who are using
social services, and we need to look at them. Are
you able bodied? Are you able to do it? And
I hate hearing the phrase, well, illegals will do the
jobs Americans won't do. There should be no job that
(06:10):
an American won't do. If you're hungry, you work. If
you need a place to live, you work, and you
do what it takes to support yourself and support your family.
And thanks to point out that we have a second
Chance employment program with the Corrections Department, we have people
who are coming out of prisons. We need to make
sure that they are ready day one, that they step
(06:32):
out those doors to be employed. Really really hard to
do that when people have taken jobs and they're here illegally.
So this could be a great opportunity to say, okay,
if you need workers, we have the ability to talk
to the Department of Corrections and say, let us know
how we can start working with these people who are
close to being released. Get them ready, make sure they
(06:55):
understand the business that they're going to get into, and
then work on getting them hired.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
But the Verify Bill is five thirty two that Senator
Kathleen Kauf Kathleen, thanks, always good to have you on.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Of course, thanks you have a good one.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
That's a state Senator KAUV from District thirty one.
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