ACLU report criticizes E-Verify
nctimes.com
By EDWARD SIFUENTES
Posted: Friday, August 26, 2011 5:40 pm

A report released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego raises questions about the federal employment verification system, known as E-Verify, that Escondido is requiring contractors to use.

The report, which culls information from previously published studies, says the program is inaccurate and could lead to people losing their jobs who are authorized to work in the U.S.

E-Verify checks whether a person is in the U.S. legally by comparing data from the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration with information that a new employee provides on an I-9 employment eligibility form.

The program has become increasingly popular among businesses and local governments who want to make sure that illegal immigrants do not get jobs. Escondido adopted an ordinance requiring contractors to use the system, and the County of San Diego is considering a similar law.

Much of the ACLU's E-Verify report relies on previously published studies to criticize the program.

Cynthia Buiza, policy director for the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, said the organization wanted to make sure that policymakers considering adopting ordinances similar to the one in Escondido were properly informed.

"The main reason for the report is, we wanted the public and local governments to know our concerns about the widespread use of E-Verify in the county and the possible outcomes," Buiza said.

Outdated or inaccurate data, such as changes in names and immigration status, could lead eligible workers to be determined to be ineligible for employment, and it could also determine that illegal immigrants are eligible to work if they use stolen or borrowed information such as Social Security numbers, according to the ACLU report.

For example, the report cites a 2009 study that said E-Verify was able to detect illegal immigrants only about half of the time. That means it found only 1 out of every 2 illegal-immigrant workers, primarily because individuals used "identity fraud that cannot be detected by E-Verify."

Officials who support the use of E-Verify say the system is improving with time.

"We will remain committed to E-Verify because we believe that jobs should go to people who are eligible to work," Escondido Mayor Sam Abed said.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, E-Verify can confirm a worker's eligibility in 98.3 percent of cases within 24 hours.

That information is based on the 15.6 million E-Verify cases submitted by employers from October 2009 to September 2010, according to the agency.

Only about 0.3 percent of the cases were wrongly identified by the system as ineligible to work and later confirmed as authorized to work, according to the agency.

The remaining 1.3 percent of cases were primarily people who were identified as ineligible to work and who did not contest the outcome.

The ACLU report cites, in part, an older study that said the system was only 96 percent accurate.

Buiza said the error rate, no matter how small, would hurt families. The system is especially prone to errors among immigrants, and because there are many immigrants in San Diego County, it is likely that more problems will result here if more local governments adopt laws like the Escondido ordinance, she said.

"To us, these are real workers with real families that will lose their jobs," Buiza said.

The ACLU should focus on how to improve the system, rather than telling local governments not to use it, Abed said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511

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