11/21/2017 - Ken Blackwell Townhall.com
The recent passage of
mandatory E-Verify by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
brings us one step closer to ending the root cause of most illegal immigration
into the United States – outlaw businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
Illegal border crossings, visa overstays, and children born in the United
States to parents here illegally would all be dramatically reduced or
eliminated if we ended the ability for outlaw employers to take advantage of
those that arrive here illegally.
There are hundreds of
thousands of young adult children of undocumented immigrants that have been
here since childhood because we have allowed outlaw employers to hire and
employ their parents illegally for decades. Roughly one-half of the nation's
undocumented immigrant population results from visitors who entered legally but
who do not leave when their time is up because Congress continues to refuse to
mandate the well-tested and widely-used E-Verify system. When visitors sense
that illegal employment is widespread, the temptation to break their visa
agreements grows stronger.
E-Verify would greatly
reduce the magnet for illegal labor. Worldwide, at this very moment, people are
enticed to illegally cross borders and overstay their visas in search of jobs
that should belong to an American or someone who came here legally. Fewer
people from around the world would make the attempt if we could ensure
employers hire only those here lawfully and have work authorization.
The bill introduced by
U.S. Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ken Calvert (R-CA) is called the Legal
Workforce Act of 2017, H.R. 3711, and it would require every employer in the
U.S. to use E-Verify to determine whether new hires are authorized to work.
The law now requires
companies to employ only individuals who may legally work in the United States
– either U.S. citizens, or foreign citizens who have the necessary
authorization. E-Verify is a free, fast and easy internet-based system that
allows employers to determine one thing and one thing only: the eligibility of
their new hires to work in the United States.
One of the claims put
forward by E-Verify detractors is the false charge that it would create a
massive federal database. E-Verify is not a database at all but a system
that takes the same information every new hire already puts on an I-9 paper
form and via the internet confirms, usually within a matter of a few seconds,
whether that information is accurate and the employee is authorized to work in
the United States. Because E-Verify itself deters undocumented immigrants from
applying for jobs they aren't authorized for, new hires of employers who use
E-Verify are immediately authorized nearly 99 percent of the time.
If a new hire receives
a “tentative non-confirmation,” that employee continues to work while
correcting any inaccurate information on files – inaccuracies that could
prevent the individual from receiving government benefits, such as future
Social Security payouts.
Employees also can
protect themselves from identity theft with E-Verify "Self-Lock"
which allows workers to proactively protect themselves against ID theft while
confirming that their vital personal information is accurate and up-to-date.
For law-abiding
employers, E-Verify offers instant verification of employment eligibility and
peace of mind that their workforce is comprised of legal workers. E-Verify is
free, fast, and takes the guesswork out of determining employment eligibility.
The Legal Workforce Act would also grant employers who use E-Verify in good
faith safe harbor from prosecution should an unauthorized worker be wrongly
authorized by the system.
We have looked the
other way for decades as outlaw employers have depressed incomes for Americans
and those here legally. Most Americans want citizens and legal immigrants
already here to get priority for U.S. jobs over citizens from other countries
who are in the U.S. illegally. E-Verify helps accomplish that.
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