E-Verify works, and that's why it's being threatened in Congress and the Courts As immigration has become a hot topic in the last few years, immigration
reform patriots have had an enormous amount of success in blocking bad
legislation. In addition to defeating two "comprehensive immigration
reform" bills, the DREAM Act and AgJobs have been defeated
on multiple occasions. But stopping amnesty is only the first step. We also need to get all
the illegals out of the country (to say nothing of stopping legal immigration). Though
no national legislation has been passed, there has been some progress in
cracking down and preventing employers from hiring illegal aliens through
E-Verify—the internet-based system that allows employers to determine
whether an employee is legal within seconds. The core of illegal aliens come to this country for jobs, so if you
cut off the jobs, they will leave. This is the cornerstone to the "attrition" strategy
supported by most of the patriotic immigration reform movement. Laws banning the employment of illegal aliens have been on the books
for over twenty years. But they had barely been enforced until very recently.
Part of the problem has been intentional neglect on the part of the federal
government (G.W. Bush, President). But here are legitimate logistical
difficulties in stopping illegal immigration. Illegal aliens can easily acquire fake IDs. It is up to the employers
to discern whether or not the IDs are legitimate. To make matters worse,
the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which made it illegal to hire
illegal aliens, also created anti-discrimination laws that banned—among other
things—"Document abuse discrimination". Employers can
now be sued for overly scrutinizing the documents of Hispanics. E-verify takes care of these problems by immediately checking if the Social
Security numbers supplied by an employee or applicant. Some libertarians will object to this on privacy grounds. But it is much less invasive than any other alternative. The Social Security numbers are
only matched through the E-verify system and will not be shared with
any other federal agency or other third party. Furthermore, this will
obviate the perceived need by many for a National ID Card. E-Verify was started in 1997. But it is only recent years that it has
actually been implemented on a large scale. Arizona, South Carolina,
Mississippi, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma, North Carolina,
Rhode Island, and Utah have all passed legislation requiring some or
all businesses to use it. Heath Shuler’s SAVE Act, currently perhaps
the most viable immigration restriction act, would mandate the program
nationwide. In the pigs flying category: President Bush recently signed
an executive order requiring all federal contractors to use the system. Arizona has the most stringent laws, under which all employers are required
to use the system. Before the law even went in effect, there were headlines
like "Crackdown has illegal immigrants leaving Arizona." [The
Arizona Republic, December 19, 2007]. The law has been in effect since
March. All sides admit that there has been a dramatic exodus of illegals
out of the state. A recent PBS report interviewed State Rep Russell Pearce
who authored the law, and various businesses and local immigrants. Here
are some highlights:
Also interviewed:
The ACLU, MALDEF, and the National Immigration Law Center are suing to overturn the Arizona law on behalf of two groups called Chicanos Por La Causa and Somos America. What is their objection? As usual, “ racial profiling.” According
to MALDEF’s Kristina Campbell, "This law will encourage employers
to avoid hiring workers who they perceive to be foreign-born because
of an accent or the color of their skin and lead to unfair firing of
eligible workers." [ACLU Press Release, February 7, 2008] The other objection: E-Verify pre-empts federal law—although the
E-Verify program was created by the Federal Government in the first place. The Arizona law was upheld in February, but last week the notoriously Open Borders federal 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals heard the case. At this point, all we can do is wait and see. The other threat to E-Verify: Congressional inaction—which is
usually a good thing. The E-Verify program will sunset at the end of November. If it is not
reauthorized, all of the laws and edicts will become meaningless. Ken Calvert
and Chuck Grassley have introduced legislation in the House and Senate
respectively to renew the program. But there is significant opposition. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D-AZ, ABI Rating D+] has introduced an alternative
system called Secure Electronic Employment Verification System in a separate
bill called the New Employee Verification Act [NEVA] that purports to
solve the problem of illegal immigration. There are many problems with
NEVA, but the two biggest are that it only applies to new employees—and
that it would explicitly void every single state law that deals with
hiring illegal aliens. It has been gratifying to see state and local governments get serious
about illegal immigration. It should force the federal government to act against the invasion.
Instead, it is showing ominous signs of acting against the states. Naïve
question: whose side is Washington on? Marcus Epstein is the founder of the Robert A Taft Club. |