Thread: Utah signs on to E-Verify program to check workers' legal st

State of Utah Signs on to E-Verify Program to check every workers' legal status

Scripps Howard News Service
June 29, 2010, Tuesday
By THOMAS BURR
WASHINGTON, D.C.

While Congress mulls around making this program mandatory nationwide, Utah joins three other states voluntarily implementing mandatory E-Verify, which will cut back on jobs for illegal workers and, by extension, reduce illegal immigration.

On July 1st, the new Utah law will kick in requiring all Utah businesses to verify the legal status of all employees and to turn away anyone found without proper documents.

Since all companies must comply, this will leave Utah's estimated 100,000-plus illegal immigrants with only a few, hard options: find work that pays under the table, fraudulently use fake documents or leave.

"It will be devastating," says "Mr. Hernandez," a Mexican native identified only by his last name because of his illegal status.

"I won't be able to eat, to pay my rent -- the obvious things if I don't have a job."

Heading back to his violent hometown seems like no choice at all, he says.

Businesses don't have much choice, either.

It specifically states that a company with more than 15 employees cannot hire anyone without running them through a verification system.

Most Utah companies, if not all, will use E-Verify federal program.

Three states -- Arizona, Mississippi and Oklahoma -- now require all employers to use the program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Utah and nine others require some use of the system, mostly by government agencies and public contractors.

Essentially, the program checks the information entered on a federal I-9 form and runs it against government databases.

Enter the correct Social Security number to match the birth date and your name and you will get clearance to work.

The idea is to cut back on jobs for illegal immigrant workers and, by extension, reduce the very large population here illegally.

Estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center show that as of 2008, Utah had between 100,000 and 120,000 illegal workers, about double the assessment from 2000.

In 1990, the population estimate was at just 15,000.

Critics of E-Verify say it will do little to decrease the illegal population; people won't just pick up and move, they argue.

They warn of unintended consequences and steep human costs.

Juan Ruiz, president of the 380-member Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Utah, tells of a Mexican painter with a home and family in the Salt Lake Valley whose employer recently cut him loose for fear the pending law could put his company in jeopardy.

"Small businesses may get scared and confused like this company did and let this young man go. If you look different, you may be laid off or fired," Ruiz says. "If anything, ... it's pushing illegal immigrants into identity theft."

Companies worry as well.

"Business owners in Utah want to comply with the law; they want to be good corporate citizens," says Monica Whalen, president and chief executive of The Employers Council in Salt Lake City.

But the pending law places an administrative burden on employers, especially smaller to midsize ones, she says.

Those concerned about the increase in illegal workers say taking on the burden of checking workers' legal status will ensure that those who have a right to work get the job over those who do not have that right.

Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, and Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, pushed SB251 through the Legislature, arguing that a crackdown on hiring illegal workers will decrease the flow of those illegal immigrants moving into the state.

Buttars said businesses that comply would be exempt from prosecution if they made a good-faith effort to ensure their workers are legally on the job.

In Utah, 2,400 employers already voluntarily participate in E-Verify at more than 5,000 work sites, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Those companies have logged more than 120,215 inquiries into the system since Oct. 1.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., is the author of E-Verify's first incarnation, the Basic Pilot Program, and he's an ardent advocate of the successor system. "It should be a national law," he said.

But the central legislative players in the national effort for comprehensive immigration reform -- Sens. Lindsey Graham and Charles Schumer -- are not fans.

"Good concept; unacceptable failure rate," Graham, R-S.C., said in a recent interview. "E-Verify is a step in the right direction but I think the ultimate solution will be a biometric Social Security card that can match DNA, fingerprints and eye scans will be soon used only for employment verification."

Graham and Schumer, D-N.Y., say that since E-Verify only checks names against numbers, there's no way to know if the person applying for the job is the right person.

Mac McMillan, head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Verification Branch in Washington, runs the E-Verify program and acknowledges the loophole. "E-Verify was not designed to prevent identity theft," he said.

The branch is adding more verification tools, such as inspectors and photographs. "We're working hard to address that hole," McMillan says.

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If you look different, you may be laid off or fired," Ruiz says. "If anything, ... it's pushing illegal immigrants into identity theft."

Identity theft...doesn't this lend credence that anyone illegally entering this country are already criminals, ie; if the first criminal act fails, fall back onto another criminal act. Enough is enough!! We are a nation of laws, not a free handout to anyone and everyone!

Since all companies must comply, this will leave Utah's estimated 100,000-plus illegal immigrants with only a few, hard options: find work that pays under the table, fraudulently use fake documents or leave.

LOL... they already do this.

If you look different, you may be laid off or fired," Ruiz says. "If anything, ... it's pushing illegal immigrants into identity theft."

Again Ruiz, you obviously already do this... This threat just ain't cutting it anymore. Grow some, go home, take all your family, friends and relatives who are illegals with you and fight for your rights there. Americans have had enough of your kind stealing identities, social services that are NOT due you, American's jobs and ability to support themselves, and their lives away. We are not putting up with it anymore.