The Star Ledger in New Jersey had this story Sunday June 15th I thought it was worth passing along to those of us who cherish the rule of law.
The federal government has begun requiring vetting the immigration status of millions of workers by an online data search system called The E-Verify system.
E Verify was a voluntary program until last week, instantly compares workers' identification information with millions of records stored at the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
The government announced it was making the program mandatory for employees of all federal contractors, and key lawmakers are working to expand the mandate to include all the nation's employers.
Amnesty and open borders advocates claim the system was troublesome enough when it was voluntary. Making it mandatory for federal contractors, they say, will only make a bad situation worse by forcing its use in industries that make up a $400 billion-plus sector of the economy.
The advocates charge the system is full of inaccurate data, that it generates false negative results, that employers abuse the system and that it does nothing to address the increasing need for workers to fill low-wage jobs.
Supporters of E-Verify scoff at complaints that it doesn't work and encourage all employers, whether they do business with the federal government or not, to use it. Arizona requires all employers to use it, and other states have enacted limited mandates.
The federal government has begun requiring vetting the immigration status of millions of workers by an online data search system called The E-Verify system.E Verify was a voluntary program until last week, instantly compares workers' identification information with millions of records stored at the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
The government announced it was making the program mandatory for employees of all federal contractors, and key lawmakers are working to expand the mandate to include all the nation's employers.
Amnesty and open borders advocates claim the system was troublesome enough when it was voluntary. Making it mandatory for federal contractors, they say, will only make a bad situation worse by forcing its use in industries that make up a $400 billion-plus sector of the economy.
The advocates charge the system is full of inaccurate data, that it generates false negative results, that employers abuse the system and that it does nothing to address the increasing need for workers to fill low-wage jobs.
Supporters of E-Verify scoff at complaints that it doesn't work and encourage all employers, whether they do business with the federal government or not, to use it. Arizona requires all employers to use it, and other states have enacted limited mandates.
Anna Johnson (pictured left), owner of Super Embroidery and Screenprinting in Phoenix, says the Web-based E-Verify program has made it easier for her to determine the eligibility of her staff."The system works," Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff said last week in explaining the decision to make it mandatory for federal contractors. "Of those workers who are legal, 99.5 percent of them roughly are verified essentially instantaneously. And those workers who have a mismatch ... are able generally to resolve their issue within less than two days."
In 2006, employers ran nearly 2 million employment eligibility verification queries using E-Verify. The top industry users were food services and drinking places, administrative and support services, professional and technical services and clothing and accessories stores.
To sign up to use the E-Verify system, employers must provide their tax numbers and other information and agree to a series of restrictions, including that they won't pre-screen applicants and must give those who are flagged an opportunity to contest the results.
Once they are authorized to use the system, employers simply enter worker identification data and Social Security numbers to check 425 million records in the SSA's database and more than 60 million records in DHS immigration databases. The process is free and takes between three and five seconds.
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Cal.), who wrote the law that created E-Verify, now wants to make it mandatory nationwide. He told Congress last week that, while it has its flaws, the system is performing well overall.
He pointed to a study by the Washington-based research group Westat that showed the vast majority of the 5.8 percent of employees who do not receive instant verification of their employment status do not contest the results.
"Why do they walk away? Because E-Verify is denying jobs to illegal workers," he said.
In 2006, employers ran nearly 2 million employment eligibility verification queries using E-Verify. The top industry users were food services and drinking places, administrative and support services, professional and technical services and clothing and accessories stores.
To sign up to use the E-Verify system, employers must provide their tax numbers and other information and agree to a series of restrictions, including that they won't pre-screen applicants and must give those who are flagged an opportunity to contest the results.Once they are authorized to use the system, employers simply enter worker identification data and Social Security numbers to check 425 million records in the SSA's database and more than 60 million records in DHS immigration databases. The process is free and takes between three and five seconds.
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Cal.), who wrote the law that created E-Verify, now wants to make it mandatory nationwide. He told Congress last week that, while it has its flaws, the system is performing well overall.He pointed to a study by the Washington-based research group Westat that showed the vast majority of the 5.8 percent of employees who do not receive instant verification of their employment status do not contest the results.
"Why do they walk away? Because E-Verify is denying jobs to illegal workers," he said.
