Mandatory E-Verify Implementation Would Risk Jobs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 14, 2011

CONTACT:
Adela de la Torre, NILC, (213) 674-2832; [email protected]

NILC Policy Director, Tyler Moran, on E-Verify

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Tyler Moran, policy director for the National Immigration Law Center, provided expert testimony before the House Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means during their hearing entitled, “Social Security Administration’s Role in Verifying Employment Eligibility.” Below is her commentary on E-Verify, the electronic employment verification system she discussed in her testimony:

“At a time when our economic recovery is just starting to show the first signs of movement in the right direction, House leadership should be running away from – not towards – onerous verification requirements that could affect millions of American workers. Workers who are falsely flagged by E-Verify as not authorized to work in this country face miles of red tape, unpaid time off from work, and in some cases, job loss. Workers who have already been hit hard by the Great Recession should not have to jump through this additional bureaucratic hoop to get a job.

“Furthermore, states that have experimented with mandatory E-Verify have proven that requiring that employers use the program without starting with a legal workforce will send unauthorized workers who currently pay taxes off the books, resulting in billions of dollars in loss of tax revenue.  With or without E-Verify, the undocumented and authorized workers who comprise a vital part of our economy are here to stay.  Mandatory E-Verify won’t solve our immigration problems, but it will make things worse for U.S. workers and the economy.  The real solution to our broken immigration system is for undocumented workers to legalize their status.  Passing a policy that will result in the loss of American jobs and costs billions of dollars in tax revenue simply doesn’t make sense.  Rather than engage in ideologically-driven banter, we urge House leadership to work toward a system that ensures that workers in this country have safe conditions and are able to pay their fair share of taxes for the work they do.”

To read the full testimony, click here.

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