Congress Kills Permanent Extension of E-Verify; Limits Vital Protection for American Workers to Just Three Years
When squarely presented with the opportunity to make E-Verify a permanent program, Congressional leaders balked. A permanent extension of E-Verify was part of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations bill, but during conference negotiations with leaders of the House, that protection was limited to just three years. The House Appropriations measure had included a two-year extension of the program.
E-Verify is the voluntary program that allows employers to verify electronically the work status of new hires to ensure they are legally authorized to work in the U.S. and are not illegal aliens. The program is used by some 140,000 employers nationwide with a 99.6 percent accuracy rate.
On the positive side of the ledger, the three-year extension of E-Verify will ensure that the program remains in place as American workers struggle through a period of high unemployment. The final language of the DHS Appropriations bill agreed to by House-Senate conferees also includes $137 million in funding for E-Verify in Fiscal Year 2010 — $18.5 million more than was included in the Senate bill.
However, the failure to permanently reauthorize E-Verify, and the outright removal of other important immigration enforcement provisions that were in the Senate bill, provide further evidence of the Obama administration’s and the congressional leadership’s desire to dismantle all effective controls against illegal immigration. With some 15 million Americans officially unemployed — 25 million if those who have dropped out of the labor market, or who are involuntarily working part-time are included — a three-year extension of E-Verify was the bare minimum the Obama administration could approve and still maintain any credible claim that it is prepared to enforce our immigration laws.
In addition to limiting the E-Verify extension to just three years, House and Senate conferees scrapped an amendment passed by the Senate that would have allowed employers to use E-Verify to check the work documents of workers already on their payrolls — at present it can only be used to verify the work documents of new hires. A further amendment shredded by Congressional leaders would have blocked the Obama administration’s decision to kill the “no-match” rule intended to make employers accountable when they receive notice from the Social Security Administration that their employees are using bogus Social Security numbers. Conferees also stripped provisions that would have required that Homeland Security construct 700 miles of double-layered border fence.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the White House and congressional leaders are intent on using E-Verify as a bargaining chip to leverage another amnesty bill. In their effort to promote such a highly unpopular move, the president and congressional leaders have promised tough enforcement against the employment of illegal aliens in the future. Thus, they could not kill E-Verify — the only effective program that prevents the employment of illegal aliens — but they were not willing to make a long-term commitment to the program either.
FAIR strongly backed the permanent extension of E-Verify, included in the Senate Appropriations bill by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). In addition, the organization has fought to expand the use of E-Verify and make its use mandatory by all employers in the U.S. Thanks in part to efforts by FAIR, seven states now require employers to use E-Verify to check employment eligibility, while two others encourage its use.
FAIR will continue to work to expand the use of this effective tool to discourage illegal immigration. As the number of employers using E-Verify grows, and more state and local governments require its use, it will become more difficult for Congress and the White House to gut the program.
