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Workers' immigration status outside scope of Arkansas comp commission

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—The Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission would be overstepping its bounds by asking whether residents are illegal immigrants, according to state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.

The commission had sought to prevent undocumented workers from obtaining a certificate of noncoverage, which allows business owners to exclude themselves from Arkansas' workers comp law.

The commission argued that the certificate is used by some illegal immigrants as a form of legal identification and wanted to question the residency status of people who apply for noncoverage, according to an opinion published Wednesday by Mr. McDaniel.

In his opinion, Mr. McDaniel said questioning the residency status of workers falls “outside the Commission's regulatory scope” because it “has no recognized role in immigration enforcement.”

However, Mr. McDaniel said the commission can include language on its noncoverage certificates that says the form does not indicate a person's immigration status, and that it is illegal to hire undocumented workers.