WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security held a hearing that heralded a new biometric employment card as the solution to undocumented employment. We disagree. An electronic employment verification system (EEVS) on its own—with or without a biometric component—will not do the job.

“Undocumented workers are attractive to unscrupulous employers because they are unable to assert their labor rights, and when they do, employers can simply call immigration agents to have them deported,” said Tyler Moran, employment policy director with NILC. “These employers clearly have no qualms about moving workers off the books into the unregulated cash economy, making any mandatory electronic system by itself an ineffective solution to a serious problem.”

Rather than simply implement a system that is easily avoided by some employers, Congress should focus on businesses engaged in egregious labor violations. This creates a level playing field for all workers while also protecting businesses that play by the rules.

Additionally, any mandatory EEVS should not be implemented outside the context of a broad legalization program. It also should not be implemented until the government can demonstrate that the limitations of E-Verify—which would apply to any mandatory EEVS—have been addressed, including database errors that incorrectly identify workers as not employment authorized and misuse of the system by employers.

While NILC applauds Sen. Schumer’s efforts to seriously bring the immigration reform debate to the table, we are concerned that a biometric EEVS will be implemented without addressing these critical details that ensure that all workers are protected.

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