Republican congressmen are moving to ban colleges and universities from hiring employees for their campuses who are in the U.S. illegally.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced the College Employment Accountability Act on Tuesday in an effort to tie the funding eligibility for schools to their compliance with federal immigration laws.
The legislation “would condition eligibility for federal aid and student assistance on compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, as well as mandate participation in the E-Verify Program for all federally funded colleges and universities,” according to a press release from Banks.
“The bill also ensures cooperation between the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security to monitor institutional compliance with immigration law,” the press release noted.
The Republican lawmakers “drafted the legislation in response to the University of California’s announcement that it would allow illegal alien students to work on campus. The university paused the proposal after private pushback from the Biden administration,” the Washington Free Beacon reported, citing a Politico report.
Left wing universities want to use your tax dollars to pay the wages of illegal aliens. This hurts American workers, incentivizes more illegal crossings, and is against the law! My bill with @SenVancePress puts a stop to it.https://t.co/tPBL8CtFS0
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) March 19, 2024
“Leftwing college administrators want to transform their campuses into sanctuary cities,” Vance said in a statement.
“Their latest scheme at the University of California is the most lawless yet: ignore federal law and hire illegal immigrants,” he added. “Our legislation would put this madness to an end. If universities want to receive federal funding, then have to abide by federal immigration law and participate in E-Verify.”
“We cannot let American tax dollars fund illegal wages,” the Ohio senator said.
Specifically, the bill seeks to “amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution of higher education that employs unauthorized aliens from receiving funds from Federal student assistance or Federal institutional aid and to require institutions of higher education to participate in the E-Verify Program.”
“American universities receive tens of billions of dollars in federal funds every year,” Banks said in a statement. “Ensuring they’re not violating the law, employing illegal aliens, and driving down wages for American workers is the least we can do.”
In January, Politico reported that the Biden administration “quietly pushed back against a plan by the University of California to allow thousands of young people without legal immigration status to hold campus jobs.”
“Through a series of recent calls, the Department of Homeland Security pressed UC officials to reconsider what it saw as a direct challenge to federal law during an election year, according to four university officials,” the report noted.
The university was reportedly trying to make an exception to the federal law prohibiting the hiring of illegal aliens, arguing that the rule only applied to the federal government itself.
“DHS officials, concerned about a breach of federal law, warned the university that the Biden administration might be forced to sue or take administrative action blocking the effort if the proposal was approved — teeing up an awkward confrontation at a time when the president is already under fire over immigration,” Politico reported.
The proposed bill by Banks and Vance is co-sponsored by Rep. Bob Good (R., Va.) and a Senate version has been cosponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.)
“Most Americans work hard, play by the rules, obey the laws, and pay into the system. Their reward? Their money is taken from them to fund the wages of illegals. Only patriots like Senator Vance and Rep. Banks dare try to stop it,” Arthur Milikh, the executive director of the Claremont Institute Center for the American Way of Life, said in a statement.
Both the Claremont Institute and Citizens for Renewing America have endorsed the College Employment Accountability Act.
“The federal government cannot be allowed to simply ignore laws in an effort to advance their partisan open borders agenda. Colleges and universities must be compelled to obey the law, and this is an important clarifying mandate to achieve that objective,” – said Wade Miller, executive director of Citizens for Renewing America.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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