E-Verify works; let's use it

[scandal 951]

LA Times Op-Ed

E-Verify works; let's use it

The voluntary program allows employers to electronically verify the work eligibility status of new employees, whose Social Security and alien ID numbers are checked against U.S. records. A photo-matching tool also deters fraud.

By Lamar Smith and Elton Gallegly

June 13, 2011

Over the last few years, our economy has faced unprecedented challenges, and millions of Americans have lost their jobs. For two years, the unemployment rate has hovered around 9%.

While 26 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, 7 million individuals work illegally in the United States. On top of all the challenges Americans face today, it is inexcusable that Americans and legal workers have to compete with illegal immigrants for scarce jobs.

Fortunately, there is a tool available to preserve jobs for legal workers: E-Verify. But the program is voluntary. Congress has the opportunity to expand E-Verify — including making it mandatory — so more job opportunities are made available to unemployed Americans.

Created under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, E-Verify is a Web-based system that allows employers to electronically verify the work eligibility of newly hired employees. The Social Security numbers and alien identification numbers of new hires are checked against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to weed out fraudulent numbers and help ensure that new hires are legally authorized to work in the United States.

The program quickly confirms 99.5% of work-eligible employees. Even though E-Verify is not mandatory, many employers willingly use the program. More than 250,000 American employers currently use it, and an average of 1,300 new businesses sign up each week.

Part of the reason for E-Verify's success is that participating employers are happy with the results. Outside evaluations have found that the vast majority of employers using E-Verify believe it to be an effective and reliable tool for checking the legal status of their employees. In fact, after being subjected to several Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audits, Chipotle now uses E-Verify at all of its restaurants nationwide to help ensure that it hires legal workers.

E-Verify has proved to be much more reliable than the current paper-based, error-prone I-9 system. Under the I-9 system, the employer only has to attest that an identification document "reasonably appears on its face to be genuine." The problem is that fake documents are produced by the millions and can be obtained cheaply. This has undermined the I-9 system.

In addition, when the National Federation for Independent Business polled its members, 76% said it would be a minimal or no burden if "there was one telephone number and/or a single Internet website where you could check a new employee's eligibility to work, something like a merchant's capacity to check the validity of a credit card." This describes E-Verify.

And E-Verify recently received an exceptionally high overall customer satisfaction score — 82 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index scale. The government's overall satisfaction score is only 69.

With this sort of track record, it is no surprise that 82% of likely voters responding to a recent Rasmussen poll thought businesses should be required to use E-Verify.

Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services implemented a photo-matching tool as part of E-Verify. This allows an employer to view a picture of the employee — from a green card, an employment authorization document or a passport — to determine that the employee is in fact the person to whom that Social Security number or alien identification number was issued.

The Department of Homeland Security also recently announced the rollout of the E-Verify self-check system. This will allow job-seekers to check their own employment status and resolve immigration problems before applying for a position. Although E-Verify self-check is available only in a handful of states, it is expected to expand to other states within a year.

E-Verify is a successful tool for employers looking to hire a legal workforce. It also helps reduce the jobs magnet that encourages illegal immigration. In fact, since the implementation of Arizona state legislation requiring the use of E-Verify, the state has seen a 17% decrease in its illegal immigrant population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

That's why the House Judiciary Committee is focused on making E-Verify mandatory.

It is crucial that we promote policies that help grow our economy and increase job opportunities for Americans and legal immigrants. This includes building on the successes of the E-Verify program and making it mandatory through a gradual phase-in for all employers. Of course, mandatory E-Verify should be coupled with a "safe harbor" for employers who use the program correctly and, through no fault of theirs, receive an incorrect eligibility confirmation.

As long as opportunities for employment exist, the incentive to enter the United States illegally or to overstay visas will continue and efforts to stop illegal entry at U.S. borders will be undermined. It is time to make E-Verify mandatory.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) is chairman of the subcommittee on immigration policy and enforcement.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Bravo!

[mawilson 2,133]

Let's say they make E-Verify mandatory and the program finds 2 million illegal workers. (A modest estimate since there are 10-20 million illegals in this country.)

What's going to happen to them and their employers and what would be the economic impact of letting go millions of people at the same time?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

My only concern would be job seekers whom employers would like to hire but are rejected through e-verify be given notice of the failure and a chance to rectify the situation. Otherwise it sounds good.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Let's say they make E-Verify mandatory and the program finds 2 million illegal workers. (A modest estimate since there are 10-20 million illegals in this country.)

What's going to happen to them and their employers and what would be the economic impact of letting go millions of people at the same time?

There are millions of people available to replace those that must leave, no? Time and again there have been reports of long lines of eligible applicants for jobs whenever there was a raid that resulted in large numbers of jobs being "vacated". I don't see that there would be any issue. Some employers will see their bottom line hurt and some might even find themselves out of business. I won't shed a tear.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

There are millions of people available to replace those that must leave, no? Time and again there have been reports of long lines of eligible applicants for jobs whenever there was a raid that resulted in large numbers of jobs being "vacated". I don't see that there would be any issue. Some employers will see their bottom line hurt and some might even find themselves out of business. I won't shed a tear.

#######...we actually agree on something.

[mawilson 2,133]

There are millions of people available to replace those that must leave, no?

Are there? Millions of people are unemployed, but are they ready to replace the

illegals? Maybe. I don't know.

Some employers will see their bottom line hurt and some might even find themselves out of business. I won't shed a tear.

You might if a million jobs lost overnight pushes the teetering economy over the brink.

Again, I'm all for E-Verify, but is now the right time to take any chances with

the fragile recovery?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Are there? Millions of people are unemployed, but are they ready to replace the illegals? Maybe. I don't know.

Thus far there have been. I remember the reports on long lines of applicants at meat packaging plants where raids caused a large number of job openings. I remember those reports invalidating the often made argument that the illegal workers only do those jobs that Americnas won't do. There's no substance to those claims.

You might if a million jobs lost overnight pushes the teetering economy over the brink.

Again, I'm all for E-Verify, but is now the right time to take any chances with the fragile recovery?

I could see that argument if there were no workers available to fill those jobs. That's not the case. If we would find ourselves in a situation where in a very short time frame some 10% or better of the currently unemployed find work bringing the unemployment rate down rather rapidly into the 7% range then that would benefit rather than hurt the recovery.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Stop harassing illegal immigrants. Leave them alone. They are just trying to make better lives for themselves.

[scandal 951]

Stop harassing illegal immigrants. Leave them alone. They are just trying to make better lives for themselves.

You always stick up for illegals. Illegals and Australians, that's who you stick up for. I know your kind.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Stop harassing illegal immigrants. Leave them alone. They are just trying to make better lives for themselves.

Have them change their countries. It'll benefit everyone.

Edited June 15, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Folks,

what is so difficult to understand here?

Don't you think we could build a wall that matches the one China built a few thousand years ago? We walked on the moon over 40 years ago, we spent over $1,000,000,000,000.00 in Afghanistan alone, why would you think we can't build a wall or a fence along the border? I can build this for 10% of the money guestimated, and I would get filthy rich doing it!

Don't you think we could easily implement laws that match those of our neighbor Mexico where every illegal immigrant is guilty of a crime? I was out of status for 13 years, knowing that the worst that could have happened to me under the worst circumstances is that I would have asked a judge to give me 30 days for voluntary departure. If I had faced a year in prison and confiscation of all my assets, from money to cars and whatelse, I and a few hundred thousand others would have left the US in a hurry, trust me!

Don't you think we could make laws like e-Verify mandatory? Of course we could!

So why don't we secure our borders? Why don't we make illegal presence a crime? Why don't we implement laws that would assure that nobody can work in the US who's not allowed to work? Don't you really have a clue?

it's because we want illegal immigration. With "we" I don't mean you and I, I mean businesses, people who employ illegals. The benefit from cheap slave labor and they appreciate that they are not required to use e-Verify. They also do not have to submit an I-9 to the USCIS. This way they can always claim they have seen their workers' "papers." And how do these businesses make sure that things stay pretty much the way they are? By donating money to the campaigns of "their" politicians, of course! No politician will bite the hand that feeds them; it is nothing but human nature of a species that feeds from corruption, the politianus corrupticus.

Edited June 15, 2011 by Just Bob

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Thing is, there's no need for a wall. All it takes is drying up the opportunity. That's far cheaper and much easier.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Folks,

what is so difficult to understand here?

Don't you think we could build a wall that matches the one China built a few thousand years ago? We walked on the moon over 40 years ago, we spent over $1,000,000,000,000.00 in Afghanistan alone, why would you think we can't build a wall or a fence along the border? I can build this for 10% of the money guestimated, and I would get filthy rich doing it!

Don't you think we could easily implement laws that match those of our neighbor Mexico where every illegal immigrant is guilty of a crime? I was out of status for 13 years, knowing that the worst that could have happened to me under the worst circumstances is that I would have asked a judge to give me 30 days for voluntary departure. If I had faced a year in prison and confiscation of all my assets, from money to cars and whatelse, I and a few hundred thousand others would have left the US in a hurry, trust me!

Don't you think we could make laws like e-Verify mandatory? Of course we could!

So why don't we secure our borders? Why don't we make illegal presence a crime? Why don't we implement laws that would assure that nobody can work in the US who's not allowed to work? Don't you really have a clue?

it's because we want illegal immigration. With "we" I don't mean you and I, I mean businesses, people who employ illegals. The benefit from cheap slave labor and they appreciate that they are not required to use e-Verify. They also do not have to submit an I-9 to the USCIS. This way they can always claim they have seen their workers' "papers." And how do these businesses make sure that things stay pretty much the way they are? By donating money to the campaigns of "their" politicians, of course! No politician will bite the hand that feeds them; it is nothing but human nature of a species that feeds from corruption, the politianus corrupticus.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

You always stick up for illegals. Illegals and Australians, that's who you stick up for. I know your kind.

I like illegal Australians.