EXCLUSIVE — A Senate Republican has taken action to bar U.S. companies permanently from hiring workers who are not authorized to live or work in the United States, taking the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown one step further.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) on Thursday will introduce legislation to make the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026 permanent and required for all U.S. employers, regardless of business size, Britt’s office shared with the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
“If you come to this country illegally, you shouldn’t be here to begin with, and you shouldn’t be working in the United States,” Britt, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, said in a statement. “This legislation builds on Republicans’ historic success in securing our border after four years of disastrous, America Last policies under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, by eliminating the largest magnet for illegal immigration.”
E-Verify is a web-based system for employers who choose to enroll in the program to instantly check a job applicant’s work documents against federal records. It has been around for 30 years and was created by Congress in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
However, despite pushes by lawmakers through the years, it has not been made a national requirement, the result of big business lobbyists’ ongoing efforts to maintain a cheaper, illegal workforce.
Roughly 8.3 million illegal immigrants were employed in the United States, as of 2022, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. That number is believed to have grown to 10.8 million illegal immigrant workers as of last year, according to Britt’s office.
Some states and federal agencies require employers to use E-Verify, but Britt’s bill would require it nationwide for hiring. Her bill would also enhance civil and criminal penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants, ensure states cannot prevent employers from using E-Verify, and improve fraud prevention measures within E-Verify.
As a result, legitimate workers would see an increase in pay because businesses cannot undercut legal workers by hiring illegal laborers who are willing to work for less than minimum wage, according to Britt’s office.
“We should enforce the law and ensure jobs go to Americans, not illegal aliens,” Britt said. “E-Verify works, evidenced by the more than 43 million times it was used in 2025 alone. This is a common-sense bill that everyone should be able to get on board with, and I will work diligently to usher this legislation through the Senate and get it to President Trump’s desk.”
FULL TRANSCRIPT: WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN
Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) have endorsed the bill as cosponsors.
The bill is also backed by organizations that advocate tighter immigration policies, including the Heritage Foundation, the National Immigration Center for Enforcement, NumbersUSA, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and the Immigration Accountability Project.