School board prepares to comply with new immigration regulations

At Maricopa Unified School District’s governing board meeting last week Human Resources Director Heidi Fawcett explained to board members how the new immigration verification system will affect new employees beginning Jan. 1.

As part of new Arizona legislation, all businesses are required to verify the immigration status of new employees. The HR department of the Maricopa Unified School District will attend a training class to learn the verification process of “e-verify” in order to comply with the requirements, as well as having the required software installed. E-verify is the system advertised by the Arizona government as a free and easy way to ensure all employees are legal residents of the state.

Fawcett said new employees will have three days to submit the necessary information proving their residency to the HR department before they would be released from employment if e-verify is not able to find the employee’s information.

No current employee is required to be sent through the e-verify process. Board President Jim Chaston asked if it would be possible to check all current employees to ensure the district is in compliance with the regulation. Fawcett said she believes it would be possible but time consuming with more than 600 current employees.

“From the information we have, I do not believe there is anyone,” Fawcett said, when asked if she knew of any current employees who are not legal residents.

Chaston asked what consequences there would be to the district, since a school district is not the same as a business and essentially could not be shut down if an illegal employee was hired. Fawcett said the district would face fines from the state if not in compliance.

Most other businesses could have their business license revoked, depending on the non-compliance situation.

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