Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) recently introduced a measure designed to permanently authorize and require employers use the E-Verify system to ensure employees are eligible work in the United States.
The lawmaker said the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act would remove E-Verify’s voluntary status – adding there is no cost to the employer or employee for use.
“E-Verify is a proven system for making sure job opportunities are for American workers,” Lance said. “E-Verify is a deterrent against illegal immigration and expanding it to new workplaces will make sure legal, American workers are not shut out of employment. We need E-Verify up and running and we need all employers to participate to make it effective.”
Lance said the bill would, among other initiatives, permanently reauthorize the E-Verify program; make the program mandatory for all employers; require federal contractors and agencies to use the program immediately; and increase penalties for employers who illegally hire undocumented workers.
E-Verify is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and uses information provided by an employee to confirm legal status through the Social Security Administration.
Bill proponents said states that made E-Verify mandatory for all employers, public and private, experienced the most pronounced decrease in unemployment rates.