Sen. Marc A. Cote, D-Woonsocket, is the primary sponsor of a bill requiring employers with three or more employees to participate in the federal employment verification pilot program.

The Providence Journal Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE — Use of a federal electronic employment verification program by private employers would be “easy and free,” and would deter illegal immigration to Rhode Island, said sponsors and proponents of a bill heard by the Senate Committee on Labor yesterday.

Proponents also said the measure will take aim at “greedy employers” who drive down wages and edge out other businesses by failing “to play by the rules.” Some argued it would protect illegal workers hired by unscrupulous employers from potential abuse and physical harm.

Opponents said the bill will stir “animus” against immigrants — legal and illegal — and wrongly puts the state in the business of enforcing federal immigration law. Others argued that the measure would unduly burden small businesses.

The bill would require any employer with three or more workers to use a pilot E-Verify program to determine whether the new hire is legally authorized to work in this country. The E-Verify program uses an online government database. An identical measure passed in the House by a 53-to-17 vote last week.

The legislation mirrors a key component of Governor Carcieri’s recent executive order cracking down on illegal immigration. The order in part requires state agencies and vendors to run similar checks against the same database.

Sen. Marc A. Cote, D-Woonsocket, said companies that use E-Verify “would have a tremendous benefit” for the “good faith” it would establish, and would shield such companies against claims of illegal hiring practices.

Cote said last year’s raid on the Michael Bianco Inc. plant in New Bedford, Mass., counters opponents’ arguments that undocumented immigrants do not take jobs away from Americans authorized to work in this country. More than 350 people were arrested in that immigration raid.

“Within days after the Bianco raid, four hundred people” who are legally authorized to work applied from the New Bedford area to fill those jobs, Cote said.

Sen. Charles J. Levesque, D-Bristol, opposed the bill.

“I have no doubt this will fuel animus that is not becoming of our state,” Levesque said. “The governor is engaging in a war of attrition against the immigrant community — especially illegals … that type of war of attrition is abhorrent to any of us.” Levesque is a sponsor of a bill that would restrict inquiries into an individuals’ immigration status.

Rep. Jon D. Brien, D-Woonsocket, took offense at Levesque’s comments.“To insinuate that someone is a bigot because they want to implement the law is totally insulting,” said Brien. “If we believe in upholding the law, that does not make you a bigot. That makes you a law-abiding citizen.”

George Nee, secretary-treasurer of the state AFL-CIO said that as a voluntary pilot program, E-Verify “was never designed to be used as a mandatory program, and our understanding is that it may expire in November.” Nee also cited what he said are “a tremendous amount of errors” in the database.

R. Kelly Sheridan, lobbyist for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said the E-Verify program is “not quite as simple” as proponents suggest.

“There’s a 68-page training manual,” Sheridan said, “and the employer has a legal obligation to the Department of Homeland Security.” He also said the database has “a staggeringly high” error rate of 7 to 10 percent.

Yesterday’s hearing on four immigration-related bills was adjourned until next Wednesday at 2 p.m. One of those bills — which would exclude illegal immigrants from coverage under the workers’ compensation law — was referred to the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, whose members are appointed by the governor and the legislature. The bill, introduced at Governor Carcieri’s request, would also impose a $5,000 penalty on employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers.

kziner@projo.com