High Cost of Low-Cost Workers: Missouri Enacts New Law Targeting Employers of Unauthorized Workers, The

This note seeks to explain Missouri\u27s enactment of a law requiring use of E-Verify by certain employers, track recent developments that have made it more difficult to employ unauthorized workers, and advocate the position that this legislation will be upheld in the face of legal challenges. The following Section addresses federal immigration law and the subsequent creation of the E-Verify program. It also examines Missouri\u27s recent enactment that requires some employers to enroll in the E-Verify program and provides stiff penalties for any entity that employs unauthorized workers. Section III considers recent cases out of Arizona, Oklahoma, and Missouri that have decided whether the type of statute adopted by Missouri is preempted by federal law, or otherwise not allowed. Finally, in Section IV, this Article contends that Missouri\u27s law will stand up to constitutional scrutiny. Specifically, the case law from other jurisdictions indicates courts are willing to allow states to regulate aliens (rather than immigration) to the extent the regulation is done in a traditional area of state control, like employment