Thread: Bush Worker-Screening Plan Runs Into Opposition From Employe

Bush Worker-Screening Plan Runs Into Opposition From Employers

By Jeff Bliss

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Big employers are threatening to capsize a Bush administration plan that would force them to hunt for illegal immigrants on their payrolls using government databases.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobby, is criticizing a Department of Homeland Security proposal to expand E-Verify, its program to check new employees' immigration status, to all federal contractors. Critics contend among other things that the databases the system uses are unreliable.

The program is already being challenged in court by trade groups, the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocates. The opposition is similar to an effort that blocked a plan compelling employers to screen for bogus Social Security numbers. If successful, it could be another setback for President George W. Bush's immigration policies.

Bush's ``clarion call'' to enforce existing law ``isn't workable,'' said Doris Meissner, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Bill Clinton. ``We need new laws.''

About 29,000 companies and organizations currently use E- Verify, fewer than 1 percent of the 6 million businesses in the U.S. There's no timetable yet for expanding the system to federal contractors. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers E-Verify, is preparing a rule for public comment early next year.

Personal Information

To use the system, companies log on to a government Web site and enter personal information employees provide. The system cross-checks the information against Social Security and Homeland Security databases. About 8 percent of the names are flagged for potential immigration violations.

The Senate in June defeated Bush-backed legislation that sought to give some of the 12 million immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally a path to citizenship under a new guest-worker program. Bush, forced to retreat by a revolt in his Republican ranks, has since tried to toughen enforcement of existing immigration laws.

The president has given Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wide latitude to step up enforcement, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that favors tighter border controls.

``It seems the past couple months he's given Chertoff some leash,'' Krikorian said.

Voluntary Users

Some companies are voluntarily using E-Verify, including Hilton Hotels Corp., Dunkin' Donuts Inc. and Cargill Inc.

Oklahoma, Arizona, Idaho, Georgia, Tennessee and Colorado, as well as two local governments in South Carolina and California, have passed laws requiring or encouraging businesses to adopt the system. The Arizona Contractors Association and Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform struck back, suing the state over its E-Verify statute. Immigration advocates have also sued to overturn the Arizona and Oklahoma laws.

The Arizona cases were consolidated last month and the trial will begin Nov. 14. U.S. District Judge James Payne initially dismissed the Oklahoma case because he said the plaintiffs hadn't proven they had been harmed by the law, which takes effect next month. He has scheduled a hearing Oct. 31 on a new motion by the immigration advocates to block the law.

Immigration lawyers say some managers might be tempted to use E-Verify reports to fire legal workers before researching possible violations.

Naturalized Citizen

They cite the case of Fernando Tinoco, a naturalized U.S. citizen who said he was fired from Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meat processor, after his name was flagged.

Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for the Springdale, Arkansas- based company, said Tinoco left Tyson and was ``later offered the opportunity to return,'' declining to give the reason for the departure.

``We've experienced very few problems'' with E-Verify, he wrote in an e-mail.

Businesses, labor unions and immigration activists successfully lobbied Illinois to pass a law in August that forbids employers from using E-Verify until the federal government certifies it is 99 percent accurate. Homeland Security is suing the state to overturn the statute.

The Chamber of Commerce contends that E-Verify errors may force companies to fire legal immigrants, and a federal expansion would magnify the problem. ``The broader they make it, the more likely it will be challenged'' in court, said Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy at the Washington-based group.

Few Valid Challenges

Kathy Lotspeich, a manager at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said fewer than 1 percent of the challenges to E-Verify's reports are valid.

She said the system is being upgraded and now includes photos to make it easier to nab undocumented workers who steal identities to get jobs. ``We don't get a lot of criticism from employers who actually use the system,'' she said.

Elena D'Aiutolo, a payroll specialist for iProcess Online Inc., a restaurant-franchise management company in Baltimore, said the identity checks ``aren't a hassle'' and the program is useful.

While subscribers are generally positive about the system, they're less united about how quickly it should be adopted by other companies.

``It should be mandated for all employers,'' said Lucretia Shepard, recruiting manager at Avid Medical Inc., a Toano, Virginia-based seller of medical supplies that has used E-Verify for a year.

Kelly Knott, a lobbyist at the Associated General Contractors of America, a Washington-based trade group, said it should have a more robust compliance operation first.

``You kind of like to hear things are going to work before you're mandated to use them,'' she said.

To contact the reporting on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington at jbliss@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 26, 2007 00:05 EDT

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Start prosecuting the employers! They've violated the immigration laws and made job magnets of themselves. Start jailing them and they'll comply. Enforce the law darn it!

From story above, but repeated with bold emphasis:

Kathy Lotspeich, a manager at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said fewer than 1 percent of the challenges to E-Verify's reports are valid.

She said the system is being upgraded and now includes photos to make it easier to nab undocumented workers who steal identities to get jobs. ``We don't get a lot of criticism from employers who actually use the system,'' she said.

So, why so much opposition Mr. "Box of Rocks" and Companies???

This article reaffirms how much power Big Business has in our government.

We have LAWS and they need to be enforced NOW !!!!!!!

Immigration lawyers say some managers might be tempted to use E-Verify reports to fire legal workers before researching possible violations.

And I MIGHT win the lottery tomorrow or be TEMPTED to do a lot of things, but reality is quite different, however, immigration lawyers live in a non-reality based world.

You don't protest an entire program with less than 1% errors, which can be fixed. They don't give a flip about legal workers being fired!!! The only care about losing their CHEAP ILLEGAL WORKERS!! I'm sick of hearing all of the "concern" about legal workers!!