E-Verify

What is E-Verify? (formerly known as Basic Pilot)

  • In 1996, Congress authorized the development of several employment verification systems as a way to improve upon the paper-based “I-9” system in place since 1986.  The “Basic Pilot” is a voluntary electronic employment verification system that developed from the 1996 law.
  • The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers the Basic Pilot program, which verifies employment eligibility by cross-checking information with the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database and it’s own immigration records.
  • In 2007, DHS changed the name of Basic Pilot to “E-Verify” – although E-Verify remains a voluntary pilot program.

How does E-Verify Work?

  • In addition to examining the employee’s work authorization and identification documents and recording this information on Form I-9, employers participating in E-Verify must also electronically submit certain information about the employee through E-Verify within three working days of hire.
  • Through E-Verify, an employer can enter the name and either the Social Security number or the I-94 card number (issued when seeking admission into the U.S.) into a web-based system. The system checks either the Social Security or U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases to verify whether the employee’s name and Social Security or immigration number match each other in the government’s database, and whether that person is authorized to work in the United States.
  • Employers participating in E-Verify receive either a confirmation or a tentative non-confirmation of the individual’s work eligibility through the E-Verify system. However, if the individual receives a tentative non-confirmation, he or she is eligible to contest that tentative non-confirmation through a 10-day secondary verification process. Employers are not permitted to terminate individuals who have received a tentative non-confirmation until the employer receives a final non-verification from this system or the 10-day time period has elapsed.

Who Uses E-Verify?

  • Use of the Basic Pilot/E-Verify, whose availability expanded from six states to fifty in 2003, is voluntary.  According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, only 2,300 out of approximately 5.6 million American employers used the system in 2004.
  • In February 2008, DHS reported approximately 60,000 companies” enrolled in E-Verify.
  • On January 1, 2008, Arizona became the first state to require all employers within the state to enroll in the E-Verify system.  In the absence of federal action on immigration reform, states across the country are passing their own E-Verify measures, creating a patchwork of conflicting laws and requirements.

What is the Problem with E-Verify?

  • GAO officials have testified before Congress that USCIS does not have adequate staff to complete secondary verification if use rises sharply and, that the Basic Pilot was not ready for nationwide compulsory participation.
  • There have also been major concerns, as evidenced in several recent high profile situations, that E-Verify’s effectiveness is severely limited by the proliferation of fraudulent identity documents. E-Verify does not verify the authenticity of the identity being presented for employment purposes, only that the identity presented matches information in the Social Security and DHS databases.  In fact, there is evidence that some employers’ usage of E-Verify may encourage identity theft by prospective employees to ensure that their information is cleared by the system.
  • E-Verify utilizes the Social Security database, which has a 4.1 percent error rate.  If all U.S. employers were to use the system, as many as six million U.S. citizens and legal residents could be denied employment due to bureaucratic error.  The error rate for legal foreign-born workers is estimated to be as high as 10 percent – opening the door to increased discrimination based on national origin.
  • A significant percentage of E-Verify queries require human intervention, a clear indication that substantial resources are needed to purge the various agency databases, improve communication between agencies, and prevent identity fraud.  The percentage of cases requiring additional clearance has increased as more employers enroll in the system.
  • The problem is likely to be exacerbated if participation increases from 60,000 to all 6 million-plus employers in the United States.  As we have seen in other aspects of immigration adjudication, a substantial increase in immigration-related caseload without corresponding increases in resources can lead to major processing delays.

What is the Solution?

  • The HR Initiative supports Congress and the Department of Homeland Security in the effort to restore integrity to our immigration system.  Indeed, the vast majority of U.S. employers would endorse a process to bring certainty to employment verification.  However, we believe required participation in E-Verify in its present form repeats and magnifies past mistakes and ultimately will fail to provide the security needed.
  • A commitment of resources and the use of advanced technology are needed to create a truly effective and efficient workforce verification system.
  • The HR Initiative supports the bipartisan “New Employee Verification Act,” H.R. 5515 (NEVA) as introduced by Representative Sam Johnson (R-TX).
  • NEVA replaces the current paper-based, error-prone, work status verification process with a paperless, reliable Electronic Employment Verification System (EEVS).