"While the illegal immigration problem will ultimately be resolved at the federal level, the state can partner with them and do what it can to ensure that only those who have entered our country legally can be a state employee or receive state benefits," said Risch.
The state will utilize the SAVE program to determine eligibility status in five different areas.
- State Employment Verification -- verifies employment eligibility for new state employees by checking employment documents against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases.
- State Vendor Employment Verification -- requires companies that provide services to the state to verify employment eligibility of their employees;
- Health and Welfare Benefit Verification -- the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare currently utilizes the SAVE program for verification. The department will review all procedures to ensure illegal aliens do not receive welfare benefits that they are not entitled to receive;
- Unemployment Insurance Verification -- the Department of Commerce and Labor will expand its efforts to verify credentials provided for unemployment insurance are valid;
- Public Education -- the state will educate local government and businesses about the employment verification program. Participation in the program is voluntary and free to participating employers and is available on the Internet using a Web-based Access method.
