The Florida House is poised to give final approval to a controversial immigration bill that includes increasing requirements for employers to check the immigration status of workers and requiring hospitals to collect data about whether patients are in the country legally.
The Republican-controlled House took up the bill Monday and rejected numerous proposals by Democrats to make changes.
The House could vote as soon as Tuesday on the bill (SB 1718), which passed the Senate last week. Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a priority of passing the legislation.
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In part, the bill would require all businesses with 25 or more employees to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of workers.
Since 2021, such businesses have been required to use E-Verify, or what are known as I-9 forms.
Among other things, the bill would require hospitals to ask patients about whether they are U.S. citizens or are in the country legally.
Hospitals would be required to submit reports about the responses to the state.
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