Nevada Legislature: Lawmakers review bill to crack down on unauthorized hires

A proposal to crack down on contractors who knowingly hire people living in the country illegally is likely to be reduced to a symbolic measure.

Republican Assemblyman Ira Hansen presented AB133 on Monday in the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee.

Federal law bans businesses from knowingly hiring people who aren’t authorized to work in the country. The bill proposes that the Nevada State Contractors Board impose additional sanctions on the company’s business license.

But officials from the contractors’ board say they’re not allowed to go after immigration violators. They proposed an amendment allowing the board to sanction a business only if the U.S. attorney general found wrongdoing.

Hansen acknowledged the amended bill would be mostly symbolic, but said it was a pat on the back for law-abiding companies.