Tucson Region
System ready to check work status
By Daniel Scarpinato

arizona daily star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.24.2007

PHOENIX — The online program Arizona businesses will use to verify job applicants' legal status can now serve millions of additional companies, a federal representative said Monday.

Businesses in the state will be required to use the program starting Jan. 1 under the employer-sanctions law passed by the Legislature this year.
The Basic Pilot Program, an online program that reports legal status within seconds, was overhauled this year to prepare for federal legislation that was never enacted, said Michael Mayhew, a representative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Verification Division.
As a result, Mayhew said the system, criticized by some business groups as ill-equipped to handle the demand Arizona's new law might create, can manage 7 million new companies — dwarfing the 130,000 expected to sign up in Arizona.

"Arizona is not even a grain of sand on the beach," said House Speaker Jim Weiers, who organized a demonstration at the state Capitol. "All these misnomers and rumors we've heard that there isn't capacity — well, it's there. You are literally able to get the information in three to five seconds."
The new law, said to be one of the toughest of its kind in the country, requires businesses to verify legal status of new hires through the Basic Pilot Program.

A business that knowingly employs illegal immigrants who have not been cleared through the program could lose its license for up to 10 days.
Employers would be placed on three years' probation, required to fire all illegal employees and sign an affidavit promising not to do it again.

If caught a second time while on probation, a business would permanently lose its license.
Employers must use the system within three days of hiring an employee, which, because of federal law, prevents employers from checking the status of current employees, Mayhew said. But an employer could run existing employees through the system by simply lying about their start dates.

If an employee is found to be a non-citizen, the individual has eight working days to contest the finding. For example, someone who has changed their name through marriage may need to update their information with the Social Security Administration.
If the issue isn't contested, the employee is considered ineligible to work.
"At that point you are knowingly employing an illegal alien and have to take appropriate action," Mayhew said.

Mayhew said the agency adjusted its software to accommodate the use of two last names, a common practice among those of Latin American descent.
"I wouldn't say it takes care of the problem 100 percent," he said. "Anything we can to add new data sources or new algorithms we're willing to do and we're appropriated to do."
But the move is still a tough sell for some who oppose the bill.

Todd Sanders, vice president of public affairs and economic development for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, said the program doesn't do enough to catch identity theft.

"If you're not going to get to the real problem by using the Basic Pilot Program, if you're still going to have identity theft out there, well, then why put employers through these hoops?" Sanders asked.
Another concern is that there is no way for businesses without computers or Internet access to use the program.

Mayhew said there have been discussions about a telephone system, but there are currently no plans to create one. He said the Web site can be accessed from any computer with Internet access, and it is secure, so personal information should be safe.
"Would you want your employer to take all of your information down to the library and key it in on a public computer?" Sanders said. "I think that's a liability for a business."
Arizona joins Georgia, Colorado and Oklahoma in mandating use of the verification system.

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