Keith Covington Quoted on al.com on Alabama’s New Immigration Law

Keith Covington spoke before a packed house in Homewood’s City Hall on Alabama’s new immigration law. In a seminar organized by the Alabama Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors and the Alabama Employers for Immigration Reform, Covington discussed the provisions of the new law that most directly impacts employers, including the new E-Verify requirements and the prohibition against “knowingly” hiring, employing, or continuing to employ unauthorized aliens. As noted in an article in al.com, Covington explained that the question of whether an employer has “knowledge” will likely be judged under the federal standard, meaning that “an employer with no direct knowledge of an employee’s illegal status could face penalties if it’s determined that he should have known.” Covington also outlined how the new Alabama law differs from the federal immigration statute, warning that “[the state law] provides very stiff penalties in a very scary enforcement scheme that does not exist in federal law.”

To view the al.com article, click here.