2026 - HB 704 - Expanded Restrictions for Unauthorized Workers (E-Verify)

This is one of four E-Verify bills introduced in the 2026 legislative session. Other E-Verify bills include HB 700, HB 584, and SB 1247.

HB 704 contains all the mandatory E-Verify requirements and escalating penalties of HB 584, but eliminates every protection and carve-out. This makes it the most dangerous of the four E-Verify bills.

Most significantly, HB 704 removes the domestic worker exclusion found in HB 584. This means families hiring nannies, housekeepers, or home healthcare workers must enroll in E-Verify and verify these workers through the federal database. It would also remove the independent contractor exclusion, eliminating the informal employment sector that provides economic survival for day laborers, gig workers, and agricultural workers.

The E-Verify system is heavily flawed and deemed unsuitable for verifying work authorization. This system creates a whole new level of intrusive government oversight of daily life—a bureaucratic “prove yourself to work” system that hurts ordinary people.