E-Verify: To Renew or Not to Renew

This week, the blog has covered the immigration programs that are set to expire and sunset on September 30, 2015. When Congress returns from summer recess on September 8, it will have three weeks to renew the programs like it last did in 2012. The focus today is on the E-verify program.

E-Verify is a controversial verification system used by the US government to make sure that employers are not hiring employees who are not authorized to work. The Department of Homeland Security maintains the program with the Social Security Administration. The system matches an employee’s Form I-9 with US government records and if there is a mismatch, the employer and appropriate agency must resolve the incongruence. The Form I-9 must be filled out by employees along with accurate identification within the first three days of working and employers suffer the ramifications of illegal hiring practices.

DHS adulates the E-Verify’s improved accuracy. Opponents of the system discredit the statistics and purported accuracy, focusing on the unacceptable number of incorrect mismatches and the nightmare that puts employers and valid employees through unnecessarily. They do not see the efficacy of the system in slowing down the hiring of unauthorized workers or making American jobs any less attractive. The system is run at American taxpayer expense to the great consternation of E-Verify’s opponents.

Many states have mandated that all employers use the program to root out unauthorized workers. Other states make it optional. One benefit of E-Verify is that employers who use it are allowed to hire STEM OPT (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics students on their Optional Practical Training) for 29 months instead of 12. This provides for a buffer in between school and other immigration options.

This is bound to be an intensely debated issue over the new few weeks as Congress considers whether to renew the program. Opponents are politically widespread and backed with their own numbers. DHS is staunch in trumpeting the efficacy of the program and many states are ebullient in their adoption.