Future of E-Verify lies in biometrics, experts say

Gannett News Service
July 21, 2009 Tuesday
By ERIN KELLY
Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - To reduce fraud and discrimination, a federal system to verify that workers are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants must use biometrics such as fingerprints or iris scans, experts told a Senate panel Tuesday.

The current E-Verify system, which checks employee eligibility forms against records in the Social Security and Homeland Security databases, can be easily thwarted by illegal immigrants who steal or are given someone else's identity, experts said.

The only way to stop that kind of fraud is to focus on a person's unique physical characteristics to identify them, said James Ziglar, former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute.

The two most reliable ways to identify people are by scans of their fingerprints or irises or, ideally, both, Ziglar told the immigration subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"In my opinion, it would border on irresponsible not to seriously analyze the possibility of incorporating a biometric identification and verification module into the E-Verify system," Ziglar said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who chairs the immigration subcommittee, agreed and has already begun pushing for what he called "a non-forgeable identification system" that relies on biometrics.

"This is the only way to stop future waves of illegal immigration," he said.

The panel's senior Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said a reliable nationwide verification system should be the foundation of any bill aimed at comprehensive immigration reform.

"We've got to get this right in order to have a crack at any reform program," he said.

But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he remains skeptical about whether there is enough political support for a national identification system.

A report released this week by the Migration Policy Institute acknowledged some disadvantages to a biometric system, while still saying it is the surest way to prevent identity fraud.

Among the disadvantages: cost. Employers would have to buy scanning hardware or hire companies to perform the services for them.

"Such issues could result in increased incentives for small employers not to use the system," says the report, which was written by the institute's Doris Meissner and Marc Rosenblum.

The greatest concerns would be political and philosophical, the report says.

"Many Americans - perhaps most - will object to providing the government with their fingerprints or other biometrics beyond a photo, much less providing employers with fingerprints when they take a new job," the report says.

"Should such a system be established without broad public support," the report concludes, "its effectiveness and use could be seriously undermined by high rates of nonparticipation."

Contact Erin Kelly at ekelly@gannett.com

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