Report: E-Verify misses half of illegal workers
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – The system Congress and the Obama administration want employers to use to help curb illegal immigration is failing to catch more than half of the unauthorized workers it checks, a research company has found.
The online tool E-Verify, now used voluntarily by employers, wrongly clears illegal workers about 54 percent of the time, according to Westat, a research company that evaluated the system for the Homeland Security Department. E-Verify missed so many illegal workers mainly because it can't detect identity fraud, Westat said.
"Clearly it means it's not doing its No. 1 job well enough," said Marc Rosenblum, a researcher at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
E-Verify allows employers to run a worker's information against Department of Homeland Security and Social Security databases to check whether the person is permitted to work in the U.S. The Obama administration has made cracking down on employers who hire people here illegally a central part of its immigration enforcement policy, and there are expectations that some Republicans in Congress will try in coming weeks to make E-Verify mandatory.
Much of the criticism of E-Verify has focused on whether U.S. citizens and legal immigrants with permission to work were falsely flagged as illegal workers. Immigration officials have been taking steps to improve such inaccuracies. Westat reported that 93 percent of the cases checked were legal workers who were accurately identified on first try. Another .7 percent were legal workers who initially were rejected.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, testifying in a House hearing on her agency's proposed budget Thursday, said she doubts the 54 percent inaccuracy rate for illegal workers. She said things are being added to the system to root out identity fraud.
"E-Verify is absolutely where we are going in terms of incentivizing employers and making sure we are using a legal work force," Napolitano said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who is writing the Democrats' immigration bill and has fought expanding E-Verify because of its flaws, said Wednesday that the fact that E-Verify was inaccurate so often shows that it is not an adequate tool.
"This is a wake-up call to anyone who thinks E-Verify is an effective remedy to stop the hiring of illegal immigrants," Schumer said.
A worker verification process like E-Verify is considered essential for any immigration overhaul proposal to have a chance of approval in Congress.
Westat's report, completed in December using data from 2008, was quietly posted on Homeland Security's Web site Jan. 28 along with a summary that pointed out E-Verify is accurate "almost half of the time."
"While not perfect, it is important to note that E-Verify is much more effective" than the paper forms used by most employers, the summary said.
Rosenblum, who has studied E-Verify, said Westat's evaluation shows it doesn't make sense to substantially expand and invest in E-Verify without fixing the identity theft problem.
Bill Wright, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the agency has created an anti-immigrant identity fraud unit in Buffalo, N.Y., to address the issue.
The agency, part of the Homeland Security Department, is developing a way for people to screen themselves through E-Verify so they can show potential employers they can work legally.
About 184,000 of the nation's 7 million to 8 million employers are using E-Verify, according to the Homeland Security Department.
Congress gave DHS about $100 million to spend on E-Verify in its 2010 budget.
Westat, a research company was hired to evaluate the E-Verify software for the Homeland Security Department to identify illegal labor cheating the system. The company stated that E-Verify missed so many illegal workers mainly because it cannot detect identity fraud. But then anybody with one brain cell in their head E-Verify is only as good as the databases it uses? Of course it not perfected yet? But then if 9 out of 10 illegal illegal immigrants slip though the US Border patrol gauntlet, according to the Arizona Tuscon sector, as that's not 100 percent proof either? Work out those illegal alien numbers for yourself for those who are never snared? It's millions each year. That why the tired old number of 12 million living here unrestrained, makes no sense either? The E-Verify system, the state-county-city police apprehension federal training program, the Southern border fence, Sheriff Joe Arpaio arrests undermined, the No match IRS verification letters, even ICE raids have all been compromised. IF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS RELUCTANT TO ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAWS?
ReplyDeleteTHEN ITS UP TO INDIVIDUAL STATES TO PROTECT VULNERABLE LEGAL RESIDENTS WITH IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT.
On the outside they are all seen to work for the public eye, but under the skin they are either underfunded or some other mechanism used to undermine its use. Most politicians are payed-off by the massive business sector, to allow the free movement of discount labor. E-Verify was nearly crippled from the start by Sen.Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and nearly tabled before it seeing the light of day. Even though it slipped through, it is only funded for three years. Because of its powerful potential it needs to be a permanent program, that cannot be touched by the open border organizations. Every disreputable corporate concern is livid that legislators have allowed it to become very popular amongst honest business. Business owners who use illegal foreign labor have used every method to repudiate the use of E-Verify throughout America.
Certain Governors, Mayors, judges and other elected officials have tried to blacklist E-Verify, as monetary favors for Wall Street and a whole volume of organizations such as the Catholic church, other religious groups, unions, ACLU, La Raza and open border extremists who profit from illegal immigration. American workers, citizens and legal residents must demand that E-Verify becomes permanent, fully funded and where no business remains untouched? There should be a timetable of ICE audits and lightening raids, that can even return after a month or two. Any patriotic American can call ICE and report unscrupulous companies using illegal labor. Its the duty of every law abiding citizen or resident. That anybody hiring illegal immigrants after E-Verify can detect fraudulent documentation as the computer program in the immediate future, should go to prison as they are aiding and abetting illegal labor stealing American jobs. SO E-VERIFY REJECTS YOUR JOB APPLICATION? GO TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY AGENCY--TO STRAIGHTEN THE APP OUT? A good Example of not statewide using E-Verify is the SANCTUARY STATE OF CALIFORNIA--THE STATE IS NOW BROKE.
ReplyDeleteTHE LAW SHOULD ALSO BE CHANGED MAKING ILLEGAL ENTRY INTO THE US A FELONY, instead of a slap on the wrist. Only American voters can stop these travesties of our immigration system. We don't need anymore cheap labor, as we have 15 million of our population jobless. We need a "points System" for highly skilled imported labor. We need checks and balances so immigration lawyers cannot cheat the system. We need the 1986 Immigration law enforced, with perhaps new amendments. Tell these corrupt lawmakers in Washington and your states--WHAT YOU WANT--NOT WHAT THEIR BUSINESS BENEFICIARIES WANT? The Washington toilet must be emptied, for our own survival. Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and demand rigid immigration enforcement.
The cost to the American people for supporting illegal immigrant families is unimaginable. Read the truth about corruption and the illegal immigration occupation of our country at NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIALWATCH, IMMIGRATIONBUZZ, RIGHTSIDENEWS & DIRECTORBLUE.
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