Iris Yanez spent 12 months and $13,000 working toward a Texas hairdresser’s license. By the time she finished the requirements in early February, a quiet policy change by the state had already made her ineligible.
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The 45-year-old was caught in a sudden shift by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that now requires applicants to provide proof of legal authorization to be in the United States.
Yanez is one of potentially thousands of hairdressers, barbers, electricians and HVAC professionals across Texas who are ineligible to obtain or renew professional licenses after the state agency added the requirement in late January. The department’s commissioners could vote to make the policy final as early as March 24.
The agency says the change is meant to comply with a 1996 federal law signed by President Bill Clinton that bars states from providing public benefits to people without legal status unless a state legislature explicitly authorizes it — a law Texas largely did not enforce for decades.
Approximately 18,000 licenses — about 2% — are not attached to a Social Security number, according to TDLR data provided to the Statesman by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s office.
Agency spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa told the Statesman the change was an attempt “to combat fraud, human trafficking and labor exploitation.” {snip}
The state’s two Hispanic chambers of commerce have opposed TDLR’s move, as has the League of United Latin American Citizens. {snip}
Owners of Texas cosmetology schools in immigrant-heavy communities told the Statesman the change has already slashed enrollment, in some cases cutting it by more than half.
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The post Texas Could Lose Thousands of Trained Workers After Licensing Rule Change appeared first on American Renaissance.
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