The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to consider a resolution calling for the county to participate in the federal E-Verify program.

Under the program, the county will require citizenship or legal residency for its employees and employees of any contractors working for the county.

E-Verify compares information from Employment Eligibility Verification forms against federal government databases to verify workers' employment eligibility. The program is free.

A group of people from Lewis and Clark counties appeared before the county commission last week and urged the board to participate in the program. The group cited problems with illegal aliens as the basis for their recommendation.

Commissioners last week said they would consider the recommendation and talk about it this week.

"I don't see the negative impact," said Commissioner Lisa Marsyla. "Our taxpayer money is used on contracts. We should have legal workers. That's the way it should be."

Commissioners Dan Cothren and Blair Brady agreed.

Cothren added that contractors working on projects with federal funding already have to use E-Verify.

"We have lots of projects with federal funding," he said.