Aaron Rader from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security talks about using the E-Verify program to check the immigration status of workers for small businesses.

U.S. database verifies immigration status

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, April 26, 2008
By Lynn Arditi
Journal Staff Writer

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy
PROVIDENCE –– About 60 people yesterday attended a two-hour presentation about a federal computer system designed to enable employers to verify whether their employees are working in this country legally.

Personnel from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and two private companies conducted the free seminar about the E-Verify system as part of a nationwide effort to educate employers about the program that is becoming mandatory in a growing number of states.

Rhode Island is one of five states –– the others being Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma –– that require all state agencies and companies that do business with their state to use the E-Verify system, according to yesterday’s slide presentation. In Rhode Island, the mandate is part of an executive order recently issued by Governor Carcieri to control illegal immigration.

Rhode Island is also among 15 states considering legislation to mandate the use of the E-Verify system for all new hires. The proposed legislation would apply to all Rhode Island businesses with three or more employees, covering some 33,000 businesses as well as nonprofit and other organizations.

A House version of the bill (H 7107 Sub.A) could come up for a hearing at the State House as early as Monday.

Yesterday, an official with the Homeland Security Department and representatives from Hire Image LLC, which specializes in background checks, and USI New England, an insurance company, offered an overview of current and pending laws related to employee verification, and urged employers to become familiar with the program.

Every year, U.S. employers file millions of wage reports –– 8 million last year alone –– with invalid Social Security numbers, many of which are being used by illegal immigrants. The federal government has been aware of the problem, and has even identified the most egregious violators, but until recently few employers have been prosecuted for immigration offenses.

An analysis of census data by the Pew Hispanic Center estimated the number of illegal immigrants who work in Rhode Island at 20,000 to 40,000.

So far, only 141 of all Rhode Island employers have voluntarily registered with E-Verify as of yesterday, said Aaron D. Rader, of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. Most of the initial 75 who registered were from Dunkin’ Donuts shops, said Hire Image’s chief executive officer Christine Cunneen.

Supporters say it’s a reasonable and relatively easy way for employers to screen their new hires. Critics say the system will create more work and expense, and produce too many “non-verificationsâ€