BUCKS COUNTY (CBS) - Bucks County officials are looking into whether the county can use a Homeland Security program to make sure the construction workers who are building the new justice center are in the country legally.

E-Verify is a free, internet-based program that allows employers to run social security numbers to make sure their employees are legal. County Commissioner Diane Marseglia wants the county to look into whether it can utilize the system so they can check the immigration status of the workers building the justice complex. “We have five different prime contractors and they will have subcontractors and so it eliminates that concern that somebody could be working on the courthouse with either an illegal social security number or who doesn’t have a valid reason to be here,” Marseglia said.

Marseglia adds that there would be no cost to the county or the contractors who would be responsible for running the checks. They would then turn the documentation over to the county. E-Verify is optional on most projects in most states, but is mandatory for employers working on most federal government contracts.

Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio