Mississippi Employment Protection Act; amend to restrict incentives for employers who use H-1B visa labor over US citizens.

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To: Labor; Finance
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) McLendon

SENATE BILL NO. 2255

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 71-11-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, IN CONJUNCTION WITH 2
THE STATE TAX COMMISSION, SECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN 3
SERVICES AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, TO PROMULGATE RULES AND 4
REGULATIONS RESTRICTING STATE INCENTIVES FOR EMPLOYERS WHO USE 5
H-1B VISA LABOR OVER THE LABOR OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS; TO 6
DESCRIBE THE TYPES OF INCENTIVES TO BE EVALUATED IN SUCH RULES AND 7
REGULATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 71-11-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
71-11-3. (1) This chapter shall be known as the 12
"Mississippi Employment Protection Act." 13
(2) The provisions of this section shall be enforced without 14
regard to race, gender, religion, ethnicity or national origin. 15
(3) For the purpose of this section only, the following 16
words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the content 17
clearly states otherwise: 18
(a) "Employer" is any person or business that is 19
required by federal or state law to issue a United States Internal 20
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Revenue Service Form W-2 or Form 1099 to report income paid to 21
employed or contracted personnel in Mississippi. 22
(b) "Employee" is any person or entity that is hired to 23
perform work within the State of Mississippi and to whom a United 24
States Internal Revenue Service Form W-2 or Form 1099 must be 25
issued. 26
(c) "Third-party employer" is any person or company 27
that provides workers for another person or company. This 28
includes, but is not limited to, leasing companies and contract 29
employers. 30
(d) "Status verification system" means the electronic 31
verification of work authorization program of the Illegal 32
Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996, 33
Public Law 104-208, Division C, Section 403(a); 8 USC, Section 34
1324a, and operated by the United States Department of Homeland 35
Security, known as the E-Verify Program. 36
(e) "Unauthorized alien" means an alien as defined in 37
Section 1324a(h)(3) of Title 8 of the United States Code. 38
(f) "Public employer" means every department, agency or 39
instrumentality of the state or a political subdivision of the 40
state. 41
(g) "Subcontractor" means a subcontractor, contract 42
employee, staffing agency or any contractor regardless of its 43
tier. 44
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(4) (a) Employers in the State of Mississippi shall only 45
hire employees who are legal citizens of the United States of 46
America or are legal aliens. For purposes of this section, a 47
legal alien is an individual who was lawfully present in the 48
United States at the time of employment and for the duration of 49
employment, or was permanently residing in the United States under 50
color of law at the time of employment and for the duration of 51
employment. 52
(b) (i) Every employer shall register with and utilize 53
the status verification system to verify the federal employment 54
authorization status of all newly hired employees. 55
(ii) No contractor or subcontractor shall hire any 56
employee unless the contractor or subcontractor registers and 57
participates in the status verification system to verify the work 58
eligibility status of all newly hired employees. 59
(iii) No contractor or subcontractor who enters 60
into a contract with a public employer shall enter into such a 61
contract or subcontract unless the contractor or subcontractor 62
registers and participates in the status verification system to 63
verify information of all newly hired employees. 64
(c) The provision of this section shall not apply to 65
any contracts entered into on or before July 1, 2008. 66
(d) It shall be a discriminatory practice for an 67
employer to discharge an employee working in Mississippi who is a 68
United States citizen or permanent resident alien while retaining 69
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an employee who the employing entity knows, or reasonably should 70
have known, is an unauthorized alien hired after July 1, 2008, and 71
who is working in Mississippi in a job category that requires 72
equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which is performed 73
under similar working conditions, as defined by 29 USC, Section 74
206(d)(1), as the job category held by the discharged employee. 75
(e) An employing entity which, on the date of the 76
discharge in question, was enrolled in and used the status 77
verification system to verify the employment eligibility of its 78
employees in Mississippi hired after July 1, 2008, shall be exempt 79
from liability, investigation or suit arising from any action 80
under this section. 81
(f) No cause of action for a violation of this section 82
shall lie under any other Mississippi law but shall arise solely 83
from the provisions of this section. 84
(5) Any employer that complies with the requirements of this 85
section shall be held harmless by the Mississippi Department of 86
Employment Security, provided the employer is not directly 87
involved in the creation of any false documents, and provided that 88
the employer did not knowingly and willfully accept false 89
documents from the employee. 90
(6) (a) All third-party employers that conduct business in 91
Mississippi shall register to do business in Mississippi with the 92
Mississippi Department of Employment Security before placing 93
employees into the workforce in Mississippi. 94
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(b) Third-party employers shall provide proof of 95
registration and any participation in the status verification 96
system to any Mississippi employer with whom they do business. 97
(7) (a) State of Mississippi agencies and political 98
subdivisions, public contractors and public subcontractors and 99
private employers with two hundred fifty (250) or more employees 100
shall meet verification requirements not later than July 1, 2008. 101
(b) Employers with at least one hundred (100) but less 102
than two hundred fifty (250) employees shall meet verification 103
requirements not later than July 1, 2009. 104
(c) Employers with at least thirty (30) but less than 105
one hundred (100) employees shall meet verification requirements 106
not later than July 1, 2010. 107
(d) All employers shall meet verification requirements 108
not later than July 1, 2011. 109
(e) (i) Any employer violating the provisions of this 110
section shall be subject to the cancellation of any state or 111
public contract, resulting in ineligibility for any state or 112
public contract for up to three (3) years, the loss of any 113
license, permit, certificate or other document granted to the 114
employer by any agency, department or government entity in the 115
State of Mississippi for the right to do business in Mississippi 116
for up to one (1) year, or both. 117
(ii) The contractor or employer shall be liable 118
for any additional costs incurred by the agencies and institutions 119
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of the State of Mississippi, or any of its political subdivisions, 120
because of the cancellation of the contract or the loss of any 121
license or permit to do business in the state. 122
(iii) Any person or entity penalized under this 123
section shall have the right to appeal to the appropriate entity 124
bringing charges or to the circuit court of competent 125
jurisdiction. 126
(f) The Department of Employment Security, State Tax 127
Commission, Secretary of State, Department of Human Services and 128
the Attorney General shall have the authority to seek penalties 129
under this section and to bring charges for noncompliance against 130
any employer or employee. 131
(8) (a) There shall be no liability under this section in 132
the following circumstances: 133
(i) An employer who hires an employee through a 134
state or federal work program that requires verification of the 135
employee's social security number and provides for verification of 136
the employee's lawful presence in the United States in an 137
employment-authorized immigration status; 138
(ii) Any candidate for employment referred by the 139
Mississippi Department of Employment Security, if the Mississippi 140
Department of Employment Security has verified the social security 141
number and provides for verification of the candidate's lawful 142
presence in the United States in an employment-authorized 143
immigration status; or 144
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(iii) Individual homeowners who hire workers on 145
their private property for noncommercial purposes, unless required 146
by federal law to do so. 147
(b) (i) Compliance with the sections of this statute 148
shall not exempt the employer from regulations and requirements 149
related to any federal laws or procedures related to employers. 150
(ii) This section shall not be construed as an 151
attempt to preempt federal law. 152
(c) (i) It shall be a felony for any person to accept 153
or perform employment for compensation knowing or in reckless 154
disregard that the person is an unauthorized alien with respect to 155
employment during the period in which the unauthorized employment 156
occurred. Upon conviction, a violator shall be subject to 157
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for 158
not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, a fine of 159
not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than Ten 160
Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. 161
(ii) For purposes of determining bail for persons 162
who are charged under this section, it shall be a rebuttable 163
presumption that a defendant who has entered and remains in the 164
United States unlawfully is deemed at risk of flight for purposes 165
of bail determination. 166
(9) The Department of Employment Security, in conjunction 167
with the State Tax Commission, Secretary of State, Department of 168
Human Services and the Attorney General, shall promulgate rules 169
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ST: Mississippi Employment Protection Act;
amend to restrict incentives for employers who
use H-1B visa labor over US citizens.
and regulations restricting state incentives for employers who 170
replace labor done by United States citizens with labor done by 171
holders of H-1B visas. State incentives to be evaluated in such 172
rules and regulations shall include, but are not limited to 173
including, tax credits, rebates, and property tax exemptions. 174
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 175
and after July 1, 2026. 176