EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) – Supporters say the E-Verify system is a crucial tool in preventing illegal immigration by removing a key incentive for undocumented immigrants.
But opponents say the federal programme can lead to discrimination and exclusion.
E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows employers to verify that their employees are authorised to work in the United States.
It does this by comparing information on a job application with data from the Social Security Administration and sometimes the Department of Homeland Security.
Supporters of E-Verify argue that it’s a necessary tool for maintaining the integrity of the American workforce and ensuring that jobs are reserved for people who are legally authorised to work.
Robert Holguin reports on the E-Verify system, which has sparked a national debate.
“It’s currently illegal to hire someone who’s not authorised to work, but there’s no requirement for employers to verify the information that people give,” said Jeremy Beck, the vice president of an organisation called Numbers USA. “So right now, if you’re a new hire, you write your information on an I-9 form, a piece of paper, and the employer, the onus is on the employer to pretty much guess whether that information is accurate.”
Numbers USA is a national non-profit organisation that seeks to reduce immigration through policy reform.
“Yes, it is, and it’s a national issue, and it’s a big issue, and it’s become kind of a polarised issue, but E-Verify is actually one of the solutions that has broad support across the board, regardless of political persuasion, background or ethnicity,” Beck said.
Implementing E-Verify universally – on all job applications – would provide a consistent and reliable method of ensuring that all workers are legally eligible for employment, Beck said.
“The word has gotten out around the world, and they’re all coming to the Texas border, the southern border right now, from countries all over the world, that yes, it’s illegal to work in the United States if you come in illegally, but they don’t check and I’ve got a brother or a cousin or an aunt or an uncle and they’ve been working there for years and it’s no big deal,” Beck said. “They just put a few numbers on their I-9 form. They put it in the filing cabinet and they put it away and so people are putting their hard-earned money, sometimes their lives or the lives of their loved ones, in the hands of human smugglers, coyotes and cartels to get here because they know if they get in they’re going to be able to find work.”
On the other side of the debate, immigrant advocates caution against widespread implementation of E-Verify.
While the system may seem effective on the surface, immigrant advocates warn of unintended consequences, such as racial profiling or discrimination.
“I think what’s important to analyse here is that the E-Verify process or the E-Verify system is designed to criminalise, to punish the worker, not the employer. That is what we have really focused on,” said Alan Lizarraga of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso.
Lizarraga warns that programmes like E-Verify can also fail to address the real concerns of workers.
“We, you know, we haven’t really come out against E-Verify per se directly, but it’s this criminalisation of individuals of people who want to work, criminalisation of people who work, sometimes, you know, more hours, they’re underpaid, and this system, E-Verify, it would just put them on the path to more cruelty, to more unfair hours, to unfair payments, and that’s really what we should be focusing on,” Lizarraga said.
Earlier this summer, Department of Homeland Security officials held a press conference in El Paso to announce a voluntary programme to encourage local businesses to use E-Verify.
“We talk about what’s going on in government, and it’s right now, it’s a hot plate the Beltway, they talk about how many got away, how many individuals are here in the United States illegally and at some point they’re going to have to obtain employment,” said Francisco Burrola, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso.
At the press conference, Burrola introduced several local employers who use E-Verify through the Image programme, which was launched in 2006.
“It’s voluntary, come join us. We will give you the tools and the training to help you identify fraudulent documents and make your business that much safer,” Burrola said.
David Valle is the director of human resources for the Region 19 Education Service Center.
“Some of the fraud that’s going on right now, because of the influx of immigration and individuals taking advantage of that, for those people, they may think they have legitimate documents and they present them to us and they may be fraudulent, and so we sign up for the Image program as well as the E-Verify program to make sure that we have valid documents presented to us at the time of employment,” Valle said.
In El Paso, only about two dozen employers participate in the Image programme.
Burrola says he wants to see that number grow, and insists that E-Verify is an effective tool for maintaining control over the workforce.
“I would love to see the industry here in El Paso, Texas, participate in the Image program and use E-Verify,” Burrola said. “What’s the challenge? Unless you know you’re hiring undocumented foreign nationals who are not authorised to work here. That’s the only thing I can think of.”
In the most recent state legislative session in Texas, a Republican-backed bill to make E-Verify mandatory failed to garner enough support to get out of committee. But a similar measure in Florida passed earlier this year, requiring E-Verify for employers with 25 or more employees.
