Wilson: E-Verify determines eligibility
news-leader.com
12:00 AM, Aug. 20, 2011
By Jerry Wilson

(Springfield, MO.)

(Re: "E-Verify proposal duplicates efforts," Aug. 17, News-Leader)

Interesting isn't it? A Kansas City lawyer commenting on Springfield city politics. Wonder why? Tony Weigel is an immigration attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He makes a living off of immigrants and immigration litigation.

The purpose of E-Verify is to confirm a person's eligibility to work in the U.S. - not to determine their immigration status. Although it's currently unlawful for employers to hire illegal aliens, there is a huge loophole in the process. All job applicants are required to fill out an Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) form which requires them to provide two forms of facially valid identification, that is documentation that appears valid. The key term here is "facially valid." Unscrupulous employers who wish to hire illegal aliens simply look at the stolen Social Security card or other false document presented by the job applicant and say: "Not my job to determine the validity of the document. You're hired!" The I-9 form goes into a file and, unless audited by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), is never seen again.

This "facially valid" loophole has spawned a huge black market in forged documents. In some large cities, sheets of blank Social Security card forms are available on the streets along with forged driver's licenses and other documents.

Weigel's assertion that thousands of employers have been audited since 2009 rings hollow in the face of the estimated 12 to 20 million illegal aliens currently present in the United States. They are here to work and presumably all have jobs and employers. Thousands of audits mean little when violations are in the millions.

The United States government has failed in its responsibility to the American people with respect to border control and interior immigration enforcement. In some cases, fines levied by the federal government against employers have been reduced to 10 cents on the dollar. In his book "When Knights Wore Shining Armor," Paul Nicholas Weyland, a former Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, writes: "Final orders on fines for employers were almost always reduced significantly from the original recommended assessment. This resulted in more expectations by the employer of mitigation rather than severe consequences exacted against the business." Those expectations form a solid basis for attorneys such as Weigel to earn a comfortable living.

Enforcement at the state level is not much better. The Missouri Attorney General's Division of Civil, Disability and Workers' Rights which handles illegal immigration matters instructs citizens filing complaints against employers who hire illegal aliens to "obtain the name of the illegal alien" and "have the form notarized." They further admit that they are not staffed to investigate such cases.

E-Verify is not perfect. But, it's still the best tool we have to fight illegal immigration. When the unscrupulous employers who hire and abuse illegal aliens are stopped, the job "magnet" will cease functioning and illegal aliens will self-deport - leaving jobs for United States citizens and legal immigrants.

Jerry Wilson is with Ozarks Minutemen. He lives in Ozark.

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