The website, E-Verify belongs to the U.S. DHS (Department of Homeland Security.) It allows businesses to check the eligibility of their employees whether foreign citizens or U.S. citizens to work inside the United States. Established in 1996, this website was designed to prevent illegal immigrants and others who had violated immigration laws from being able to work legally in the U.S.
In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began requiring all federal vendors and contractors to use E-Verify. It is a free, internet-based site maintained by the United States government. This system looks at information from an employee’s Form 1-9 to data from the U.S. government records. If data from these two areas match, then the employee is eligible to work within the United States.
With illegal immigrants gaining more attention in the U.S. there has been a sweeping measure advancing in the Senate that goes farther than border security issues and finding a way for undocumented immigrants a way to find citizenship. They are considering a bill that could affect all Americans who go looking for a new job.
Florida State Representative, Thad Altman filed an “E-Verify” bill that if accepted, will force all employers to run a citizenship check on all potential employees using the government’s system. There is also a linchpin of the legislation that will require all employers to use this system within the next five years. With this bill in place, all job applicants will have to run through a federal database, that hasn’t always been efficient. The potential adverse outcome if this bill passes, it will slow down and complicate the hiring process for everyone in any given state.
The E-Verify system has brought together an array of supporters including Democrats protective of workers’ rights, and the Republicans who are generally skeptical of government intrusions. The belief by these parties is that the bill will prevent illegal immigration in the future. They feel this bill will remove the jobs magnet which is now attracting migrants to this country.
Some of the debate surrounding this system is how unaware most Americans are concerning the mandate’s broad scope. The E-Verify relies on an imperfect database monitored by the federal government which has been known to contain errors. If this system goes national, it is feared some Americans will face unexpected bureaucratic headaches that could cause some Americans to lose their job.
The question on whether or not E-Verify will work in practice is causing a lot of debate throughout the government and with many employers. It is not a one-hundred percent answer to hiring illegals and shows signs of negatively impacting current workers in the country. The American Civil Liberties also has concerns regarding the privacy issues this system could raise.
There is a lot of debate among numerous citizens, employers, government employees and anyone concerned with employment in the United States. The one sure thing about the bill at this point is that it is going to generate a lot of attention as immigration issues continue to be a concern in the country.
