TALLAHASSEE — Even as Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed for Florida to be the most aggressive state in assisting the federal government withimmigration enforcement, state law still allows hundreds of thousands of companies to skip doing an E-Verify check.
In Florida, private companies with fewer than 25 employees don’t need to use the federal database that confirms an employee’s immigration status.
On Wednesday, a state House committee moved forward a bill that would require all private employers to use the screening program, closing what some lawmakers have called a loophole.
Bill sponsors Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, and Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville, put forward similar legislation last year, which passed the House but did not move in the Senate.
There is no matching legislation in the Senate so far this session, but Jacques said he is in talks with senators.
During the Wednesday committee meeting, Jacques noted that small businesses already have to collect an employee’s I-9 form, which is meant to verify employment eligibility.
“When you drill down to it, this simply enforces the law,” Jacques said.
The bulk of private businesses in Florida have fewer than 25 employees. About 476,000 businesses in Florida have 19 employees or fewer, according to a 2025 report from the U.S. Small Business Administration. About 42,000 businesses have 20 or more employees.
When DeSantis first ran for office in 2018, he promised to pass E-Verify legislation.
But the bill he signed in 2020, which required E-Verify only for public employers and their contractors,was weaker than his campaign promise.
Getting that bill to his desk was a legislative battle. At one point, the bill’s Senate sponsor said the bill had become a “mockery” of its initial form and said DeSantis should veto it.
When lawmakers took another swipe at expanding E-Verify in 2023, they required its use for private employees but created an exemption for employers with fewer than 25 employees.
Jacques said he has been talking to the governor’s office about E-Verify expansion and said DeSantis’ office is in support of this session’s bill.
Other states require all employers to screen employees through E-Verify, including Arizona and Alabama. In Georgia, employers with more than 10 workers need to use the program.
Non-citizens have found ways to circumvent E-Verify. Anecdotal evidence shows that even companies required to use it have hired people without legal status.
Archer Western, a major road contractor that has repeatedly worked with Florida, was thrust into the spotlight in 2022 when a worker who was in the country illegally accidentally hit and killed a Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy.
Florida officials, including DeSantis, have defended Archer Western, saying the company followed correct E-Verify procedures. The state has continued to award the company lucrative contracts.
The company is now under investigation for its hiring practices, and 19 former employees have been indicted so far, according to the federal government.
DeSantis faced criticism from his own party earlier this year for not citing more employers for violating E-Verify requirements. A few days after that critique, DeSantis’ administration issued warning letters to 40 companies.
