What is E-Verify?

Penalties are getting steeper for employers who hire illegal immigrants. Some companies prefer to work with illegal immigrants because they are willing to work for less, which lowers the overhead cost of running a business. But now, with new laws and rules in place, hiring an illegal immigrant could be much more costly than employing his or her legal counterpart.

With fines beginning in the $10,000 range, and the possibility of losing their business licenses, facing jail time or a loss of holdings within their own companies, business owners are wising up. But what they don’t know might be hurting them. Identity theft has made it more difficult than ever to determine whether or not a potential employee is or isn’t authorized to work in the country.

The government has gotten involved in helping employers determine which potential employees are worth pursuing and which are not. But, even they might be easily duped by identity thieves who know how to work the system.

E-Verify, formerly known as the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, is an online system operated by both the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. It allows employers to log on and check a potential employee’s I-9 form against Social Security and Homeland Security databases. Within a matter of seconds employers receive a yes or no on the validity of a potential employee’s credentials. However, skeptics claim that this system might not be as fool-proof as it has been made out to be.

For instance, if an employee is using a stolen social security number and a stolen name (that match each other) the system isn’t able to pick up on the fact that the potential employee is using stolen information. However, if an employee tries to use his or her own name with someone else’s social security number, a red flag is raised and the employer is notified.

Currently there are more than 69,000 employers enrolled in the program with over 4 million queries made so far in 2008. As of now, the program is free and voluntary. But it is set to expire on November 1 if Congress doesn’t vote to renew funding for the program. Democratic Rep. Health Shuler, of western North Carolina, is proposing that E-Verify not only be kept but also expanded into what he calls The Secure America with Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act). The SAVE Act would eventually require all companies to use the E-Verify system and would implement a phase-in period that would begin with larger businesses and end with smaller Mom and Pop establishments.

Congressman Shuler has yet to make his appeal formally, so the details and stipulations of the act haven’t yet been fully disclosed. If the act is to be implemented, there are still several kinks in the system that would need to be worked out.

In addition to failing to catch all cases of identity theft, the Social Security Administration’s inspector general has admitted that as many as 17.8 million records in the database are inaccurate. This causes potential false positives for illegal immigration with one percent of US born employees being flagged in error.

While the program looks like it might be a good start in the right direction, it definitely isn’t perfect. But it might be a good place to begin if you work in an industry that typically hires foreign workers. Enrollment in the program would offer an added layer of protection for employers who still found they accidentally employed illegal immigrants. Protecting yourself is a huge part of winning the war on identity theft. For employers, that just might look like E-Verify. You can learn more about the program at the official website.