The Key To Effective Immigration Reform

Did you know . . .

Following the testimony in last week’s House Immigration Subcommittee, it is clear that there is wide agreement that the current U.S. employment verification system is failing to prevent unauthorized employment, the leading cause of illegal immigration. 

Establishing a Secure Electronic Employment Verification System (SEEVS) that utilizes state-of-the-art technology – including biometrics – and is designed to meet the following criteria would virtually eliminate the growing problem of identity theft while protecting personal privacy.

• Enrollment Process – Individuals would enroll in the SEEVS through one of several competing, private enrollment providers. The enrollment process would be similar to the “Registered Traveler” program, which has proven to be secure and reliable.  The private enrollment providers would operate in a manner similar to the credit bureaus. 

• Identity Verification – The enrollment providers would verify identity through forensic document examination and tailored data mining in publicly available databases.  This system would build upon background checks currently conducted by many employers. An individual’s identity would be verified and could be “locked” to biometric or other secure identifiers through this process.

• Private Database – By assigning the identity process to private vendors, personal data would be collected by companies certified by the Dept. of Homeland Security, and meeting standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

• Protecting Privacy – Employers would not have access to the data collected by the certified enrollment providers, but would only receive an answer as to whether the employee is authorized to work in the United States. This process would also prevent the creation of a single, government-maintained national database – further ensuring the protection of privacy.

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