On immigration, don’t trust: E-Verify!
August 11th, 2007, 11:53 am · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
First it was the Basic Pilot Program. Then it was the Employment Eligibility Verification System. Now, we have E-Verify.On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff revealed a new name for the do-it-yourself check for the legal status of employees, as part of new set of policies to crack down on illegal immigration. The national computer database is designed to allow businesses to instantly verify that a new hire can legally work in the U.S. by comparing names and Social Security numbers. We in Arizona have heard more about this program than other parts of the country because on Jan. 1, a new law will essentially force more than 130,000 employers in the state to use it. Routinely using E-Verify will be the best protection against accusations that a business "knowingly" hired an illegal immigrant, which could cost that business its government-issued operating licenses. Until now, use of the E-Verify program has been largely voluntary. So only a tiny number of businesses have signed up, about 19,000 right now, despite the relatively low cost. That’s one reason business groups are suing to block the new Arizona law, claiming the program can’t possibly handle such a dramatic expansion of users until Congress spends millions to reduce errors in the computer records.But Homeland Security officials insist they have been improving E-Verify for nearly two years in anticipation that Congress would require businesses nationwide to use it. Congress has failed to act. But Chertoff said Friday that President Bush will issue an executive order requiring all businesses who contract with the federal government to use E-Verify. That affects thousands of employers across the U.S., implying a strong belief that E-Verify will work as advertised on a much larger scale.Of course, the Bush administration was confident it could handle the crush of passport applications for people traveling to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, and look how that turned out.But an effective method for employers to verify their workers, with few legal residents getting trapped by bureaucratic red tape, and tamper-resident identification cards for legal immigrant workers, would go a long way toward reducing the demand for illegal workers.I’m convinced the vast majority of business owners don’t seek to hire illegal immigrants. But document fraud is rampant, and the Justice Department has imposed severe restrictions on challenging questionable workers to avoid discrimination. So many employers have little choice but to hire whomever walks through the door and flashes what appears to be valid driver’s licenses and Social Security cards.As reported Saturday in the Tribune by the Los Angeles Times, Chertoff expects expansion of E-Verify and the other new measures will hurt the economy, at least in the short run. The Tribune Editorial Board noted Saturday that probably Bush’s best strategy at this point to get Congress to work past its impasse on comprehensive immigration reform — make real progress on slowing the tide of illegal immigration while demonstrating a clear need for more legal foreign workers.
