Nov 15, 2010

Report: Most firms needing illegal workers don't use govt. verification tool

06:50 PM

Most employers who rely on illegal workers do not use a free federal verification program, and businesses have pressured Congress to not make it mandatory, the Fresno Bee reports.

The voluntary eligibility check, E-Verify, instantly compares a new hire's information from Form I-9 with data from the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration.

DHS says that more than 216,000 employers are enrolled in the program. During fiscal 2009, more than 8.7 million queries were run, and more than 13 million as of July this year.

Major business groups have opposed making the check mandatory, arguing that it creates an "administrative burden," while experts say it makes it harder to hire illegal workers, the Bee writes. And therein lies the conundrum for some employers.

"It may work for Costco, but Costco doesn't have the problem I have" — a shortage of legal residents willing to work in agriculture, said Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League, an association of ag businesses in the Western states.

The Bee writes that "the vast majority of agriculture businesses in the Central Valley" don't use E-Verify. Federal figures show that only 179 employers use it.

Thirteen states require employers to use E-Verify (map) and most federal contractors must also use it.
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