House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Protect Jobs for Americans and Legal Workers

Washington, D.C. -- The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 20-10 the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 3711). This bill, introduced by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), preserves jobs for citizens and legal workers by requiring U.S. employers to check the work eligibility of all future hires through the E-Verify system. Created in 1996 and operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), E-Verify checks the social security numbers of newly hired employees against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to help ensure that they are genuinely eligible to work in the U.S. The program quickly confirms nearly 99% of work-eligible employees and takes less than two minutes to use. Over 740,000 American employers currently use E-Verify and 83% of America’s employers support a mandatory electronic verification system. A summary of key components of the Legal Workforce Act can be found here. Congressman Smith and Chairman Goodlatte applauded today’s Committee approval of the Legal Workforce Act in the statements below. Congressman Smith: “The Legal Workforce Act saves jobs for American workers at a time when nearly 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Meanwhile, seven million people are working in the United States illegally. By expanding the E-Verify system to all U.S. employers, employers will check the work authorization of new employees to ensure that the jobs only go to Americans and legal workers. “E-Verify is easy to use and liked by the American people. A September 2017 Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 82% of voters favor requiring business owners to check the immigration status of employees they hire.  E-Verify receives the most public support of any proposed immigration reform. “I thank Chairman Goodlatte and Congressman Calvert for their continued commitment to this legislation and to securing our border.” Chairman Goodlatte:  “Today the House Judiciary Committee has approved a commonsense bill, the Legal Workforce Act, to bring our nation’s employment eligibility system into the 21st century. Rather than relying on the current paper-based I-9 system that is susceptible to fraud, this bill requires all U.S. employers to use E-Verify, a web-based system.  This program takes less than two minutes to use and easily identifies whether or not a new employee is allowed to work in the United States. “Expanding E-Verify nationwide is a critical component to the interior enforcement of our immigration laws and will help maintain the integrity of our immigration system for the years ahead. I thank Congressman Smith for the many years he has worked on this important bill and urge the House to bring it up for a vote soon so that we preserve jobs for legal workers and prevent illegal immigration.” In a short video, Congressman Smith explains how to use E-Verify. Learn more about the Legal Workforce Acthere and the House Judiciary Committee’s work on immigration here.