Illegal Immigrant Supporters Target E-Verify Program

"Forcing U.S. companies to use a government system to verify the legal status of employees would result in hundreds of thousands of citizens and legal residents being initially rejected for work, critics said Tuesday. Immigrant advocates, business groups and experts said that the system, known as E-Verify, relies on faulty databases that were never designed as immigration enforcement tools," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "In Arizona, a law implemented in January requires all companies to run new employees through E-Verify. Under the law, companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants are subject to various penalties, including losing their business licenses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have challenged the law, saying it is unconstitutional and interferes with federal immigration statutes. Using the Internet-based system, an employer can check immediately whether employees are in the United States legally by comparing their information to electronic government records."

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