Illegal Border Crossings Today:

E-Verify

E-Verify explained

Every year, millions unlawfully enter the U.S. with the hope of finding work. One of the keys to ending illegal immigration is to cut off the jobs magnet. If only there were an easy and effective way to do it…

That’s precisely the purpose of E-Verify.

WHAT IS E-VERIFY

Overseen by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), E-Verify:

  • Is a voluntary, free online workforce verification system 
  • Acts as a virtual wall that allows employers to compare information on an employee’s Form 1-9 with records at the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration
  • In partial use in 22 states, but only mandatory in Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, and Tennessee
  • One of the highest-rated government programs in terms of user satisfaction

Join FAIR in the Critical E-Verify Fight!

WHY E-VERIFY?

E-Verify  is a highly-effective way to combat  illegal immigration because it works to eliminate that illegal jobs magnet. Several studies show:

  • The number of recent immigrants fell by almost 40 percent when a state had a universal E-Verify law in effect 
  • That illegal immigration fell by as much as 50 percent in a single year in states with mandatory E-Verify laws.
  • Mandatory E-Verify not only reduces illegal immigration, but encourages illegal workers to return home.
  • E-Verify protects American workers by ensuring employers only hire individuals authorized to work in the United States

WHO USES E-VERIFY?

  • The federal government requires federal contractors or subcontractors whose contract with it contains the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause to participate in E-Verify. E-Verify is voluntary for all other businesses.
  • Of the 750,000 registered employers currently using it, 65 percent of companies have less than 100 employees and 73 percent consider themselves to be a small business. https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/data/EVerifyCustomerSatisfactionSurvey2017.pdf
  • More than 2.4 million hiring sites and about 1,400 companies join every week

HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

  • 98.8 percent of employees are automatically confirmed as authorized to work either instantly or within 24 hours, requiring no employee or employer action (1.1 percent receive initial system mismatches). (USCIS, https://www.e-verify.gov/about-e-verify/e-verify-data/e-verify-performance)
  • Of the 1.1 percent of employees receiving initial system mismatches (TNC), only 0.16 percent are later confirmed to be work authorized. 

A secure identification system for eligibility to work in the United States has yet to be implemented, but can be very easily. To work in the United States, people must furnish a social security number or tax ID number. The data in each social security file contains sufficient information to determine whether the person using the number is the person to whom it was issued. The technology is readily and cheaply available to verify that a new employee has presented a valid number and that it belongs to that person. The E-Verify system accomplishes this task.

E-Verify is a currently voluntary program, with 13 states encouraging or requiring its use. It is also being increasingly required for companies with government contracts. Most verifications take less than 5 minutes either online or by phone. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which runs E-Verify, reports that 96.1 percent of verifications are approved on the first try. Of the remaining 3.9 percent, most delays are due to discrepancies between information presented by job applicants and information in the Social Security Administration database, such as unreported name changes due to marriage. The majority of these discrepancies are resolved within 24 to 72 hours and do not prevent eligible workers from being hired.

The groups who oppose E-Verify do so because it works. Agriculture groups wish to continue employing illegal workers at a lower cost than U.S. citizens. However, they refuse to understand they are leaving Americans out of work in a time of high unemployment and providing cover and financing to transnational criminals and potential terrorists.