Dairy farmers worry that proposed E-Verify law will kill industry

The Milwaukee Journal reports:

About four in 10 dairy farm workers are immigrants, many believed to be undocumented.

"If E-Verify passes, it will kill the dairy industry in Wisconsin," Reinhart said. "I'm scared to death."

The E-Verify bill, or Legal Workforce Act, was introduced in May by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who framed it as a jobs bill saying illegal immigrants are taking jobs from Americans who need them.

E-Verify is an electronic, Internet-based system operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. It checks Social Security numbers to determine whether a person can legally work in the United States.

Right now it's optional, but Smith's bill would make it a requirement, and there could be criminal penalties for employers. The agriculture industry would have three years to implement the system.

The next fight in immigration reform.