83R2334 KSD-F
	By: Harless	H.B. No. 615

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a prohibition against the knowing employment of
	unauthorized foreign nationals and to a biennial report regarding
	reported violations.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to provide for the
	execution of the policies of the federal Immigration and
	Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.), identify
	employment practices that violate 8 U.S.C. Sections 1324a(a)(1) and
	(2), and make available to this state the full productive
	employment capacities of United States citizens, lawful permanent
	residents, and employment-authorized foreign-born nationals in
	this state.
	SECTION 2.  Subtitle B, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
	adding Chapter 53 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 53.  EMPLOYMENT OF UNAUTHORIZED FOREIGN NATIONALS
	SUBCHAPTER A.  GENERAL PROVISIONS
	Sec. 53.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
	(1)  "Commission" means the Texas Workforce
	Commission.
	(2)  "Employee" means an individual who is employed by
	an employer for compensation.
	(3)  "Employer" means a person who:
	(A)  employs one or more employees; or
	(B)  acts directly or indirectly in the interests
	of an employer in relation to an employee.
	(4)  "E-Verify program" means the electronic
	verification of work authorization program of the federal Illegal
	Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Pub.
	L. No. 104-208, reprinted in note, 8 U.S.C. Section 1324a),
	operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or a
	successor work authorization program designated by the United
	States Department of Homeland Security or another federal agency
	authorized to verify the work authorization status of newly hired
	employees under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of
	1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.).
	(5)  "Knowingly" means, with respect to employing,
	recruiting, or referring an unauthorized foreign national, having
	actual knowledge that a person is an unauthorized foreign national
	or failing to perform a legal duty to determine the employment
	eligibility status of an unauthorized foreign national.
	(6)  "Lawful resident alien" means a person who is
	entitled to lawful residence in the United States under the federal
	Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.).
	(7)  "Lawful resident verification information" means
	the documentation required by the United States Department of
	Homeland Security for completing the employment eligibility
	verification form commonly referred to as the I-9. Documentation
	that satisfies the requirements of the Form I-9 at the time of
	employment is lawful resident verification information.
	(8)  "Unauthorized foreign national" means a foreign
	national who at the time of employment is neither an alien who is
	lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States
	under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section
	1101 et seq.) nor authorized to be employed by that Act or the
	United States attorney general.
	Sec. 53.002.  RULES.  The commission shall adopt rules for
	the administration of this chapter.
	[Sections 53.003-53.050 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER B.  PROHIBITION AGAINST KNOWING EMPLOYMENT OF
	UNAUTHORIZED FOREIGN NATIONAL
	Sec. 53.051.  PROHIBITION AGAINST KNOWING EMPLOYMENT OF
	UNAUTHORIZED FOREIGN NATIONAL.  (a)  An employer may not knowingly
	employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, an
	unauthorized foreign national.
	(b)  An employer has not violated Subsection (a) in regard to
	a particular employee if:
	(1)  the employer, at least four calendar days after
	the commencement of the employee's employment, requested from the
	employee and received and documented in the employee's employment
	record lawful resident verification information consistent with
	employer requirements under the federal Immigration Reform and
	Control Act of 1986 (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.); and
	(2)  the lawful resident verification information
	provided by the employee later was determined to be false.
	(c)  An employer has not violated Subsection (a) in regard to
	a particular employee if the employer verified the immigrant status
	of the person at least four calendar days after the commencement of
	the employee's employment through the E-Verify program.
	[Sections 53.052-53.100 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER C.  FILING COMPLAINTS
	Sec. 53.101.  FILING COMPLAINT.  (a)  A person who has reason
	to believe that an employer has violated Section 53.051(a) may file
	a complaint with the commission.
	(b)  A complaint must:
	(1)  be in writing on a form prescribed by the
	commission; and
	(2)  be verified by the person making the complaint.
	(c)  A person may file a complaint under this section:
	(1)  in person at an office of the commission; or
	(2)  by mailing the complaint to an address designated
	by the commission.
	[Sections 53.102-53.150 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER D. BIENNIAL REPORT TO LEGISLATURE
	Sec. 53.151.  BIENNIAL REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. (a)  Not later
	than November 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall
	prepare and submit to the governor and the legislature a written
	report based on nonidentifiable, summary data compiled by the
	commission from complaints filed under Subchapter C during the two
	preceding state fiscal years.
	(b)  The report must include any relevant information and
	analysis the commission determines would assist the legislature in
	making informed decisions regarding the issue of illegal
	immigration as it relates to employment in this state.
	(c)  The report may not include any information that could
	reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a particular
	employer or employee or of a person who files a complaint with the
	commission under Subchapter C.
	SECTION 3.  Chapter 53, Labor Code, as added by this Act,
	applies only to a violation that occurs on or after the effective
	date of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.