Fact of the Week: 06/12/08

It’s Time for Congress to Create an Employment Verification System That Works

 Fact Check

How to Fix a Broken Employment Verification System

In an excerpt from a press conference earlier this week, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff defended the E-Verify system:

QUESTION:  An official from Arizona testified at the Congressional hearing recently that it [E-Verify] wasn't getting rave reviews from some of the employers there.  They were getting lots of false positives, they were having trouble explaining the system, and particularly smaller employers were having trouble dealing with the system so not everybody thinks it's working okay.

SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, the first thing I can tell you is, again, let's look at the numbers. I mean, if it was something people didn't want to participate in – because it's a voluntary program at this point – we wouldn't be getting a thousand a week. I've given you the numbers on the error rates.  Now I can't tell you that every employer may have difficulty understanding the system or getting it to work. I have talked to a lot of employers and those employers have been very supportive and have appreciated and have really endorsed the system. Obviously, you know, you've got to learn how to use the system. You've got to have the right computer IT connections.  But, again, I can't argue with the numbers.  The numbers are clear.  People are continuing to join and they're joining because they think it's a good system.

FACT CHECK:
•    E-Verify is MANDATORY in Arizona.  If the best evidence of employer excitement over E-Verify is that 1,000 employers are signing up each week, it’s only because states such as Arizona and Mississippi have made it mandatory for all employers. 

•    According to USCIS – of the ten states with the highest number of employers using E-Verify, six have passed laws requiring its use by either all or some employers.

•    Nearly six months after the Arizona law has gone into effect, it is estimated that only 20-25,000 Arizona employers – out of 140,000 – are participating.  That’s hardly a groundswell of support.  At the rate of 1,000 new employers per week – it will be over 100 years until all U.S. employers participate in the system.

Rather than requiring thousands of employees to sign up each week with the Department of Homeland Security, the New Employee Verification Act  - HR 5515 – utilizes a system already used by over 90 percent of all U.S. employers.