West Virginia: 78% Support E-Verify Legislation

A bill pending in the West Virginia legislature to help control illegal immigration by requiring employers to use the E-Verify system has overwhelming support from the state’s voters.

A new telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA finds that 78% of Likely West Virginia Voters believe the state should mandate that all employers use the federal electronic E-Verify system to help ensure that they hire only legal workers for U.S. jobs.

12% oppose mandating E-Verify, while another 10% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The West Virginia House of Representatives last month passed H.B. 4759, which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to use E-Verify; the measure is now pending in the state Senate. 

survey finds support for H.B. 4759 across party lines among West Virginia voters, with 82% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 80% of voters unaffiliated with either major party in favor of mandate that employers use the federal electronic E-Verify system.

Requiring the use of E-Verify is popular nationwide, with 69% of U.S. Likely Voters favoring it in the most recent Rasmussen Reports Immigration Index survey. 

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The survey of 892 West Virginia Likely Voters was conducted on February 13-14, 2023 by Rasmussen Reports and NumbersUSA. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The West Virginia survey found a consensus in favor of H.B. 4579 across all demographic categories – 81% of men, 74% of women, 78% of whites, 73% of black voters, 70% of Hispanics and 89% of other minorities support the state requiring employers to use the federal electronic E-Verify system to help ensure that they hire only legal workers for U.S. jobs.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports/Numbers USA survey of West Virginia voters:

– Fifty-eight percent (58%) say that, if their state senator votes against the bill mandating E-Verify, they would be less likely to support them in the future. Only 17% would be more likely to support their state senator for voting against E-Verify, while 18% say it doesn’t matter.

– Seventy percent (70%) agree that, if the measure requiring employers to use E-Verify becomes law, any business that refuses to comply should lose its business license to operate in West Virginia, including 46% who Strongly Agree. Just 22% disagree.

– Eighty percent (80%) agree that hiring illegal workers harms legal workers by reducing pay, diminishing working conditions, and making fewer jobs available to West Virginians, including 64% who Strongly Agree. Only 16% disagree.

– When businesses say they are having trouble finding West Virginians to take jobs in construction, manufacturing, hospitality, and other service work, 70% believe it is better for businesses to raise pay and try harder to recruit non-working West Virginians even if it causes prices to rise. Just 10% think it is better for the government to bring in new foreign workers to help keep business costs and prices down. Another 20% are not sure.

– Seventy-four percent (74%) would support a program that allowed state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with Federal Immigration authorities to better capture, detain, hold and deport criminal illegal aliens, including 56% who would Strongly Support such a program. Seventeen percent (17%) would be opposed.

– Seventy-nine percent (79%) believe West Virginia’s “Dual Enrollment” program –  a workforce development program where high school students can take college courses with subsidized tuition – should be limited to U.S. citizens and immigrants with lawful work authorization. Only 14% think “Dual Enrollment” should continue to be open to illegal aliens.

– Sixty-four percent (64%) would support a state law to charge a fee for money transfers out of the United States to help reduce remittances – money sent by foreign workers to their home countries.

The Rasmussen Reports/Numbers USA survey found that President Joe Biden is very unpopular with West Virginia voters. Only 29% approve of Biden’s job performance as president, including 19% who Strongly Approve. Seventy percent (70%) disapprove of Biden’s performance, including 61% who Strongly Disapprove.

A majority of voters view former President Donald Trump’s term in office as a success, even as they consider Biden’s time in the White House a failure. 

Democrats overwhelmingly approve of states removing Trump’s name from 2024 election ballots. 

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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