Immigration Subcommittee to Look at E-Verify's Success
Washington, D.C. - Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled “How E-Verify Works and How it Benefits American Employers and Workers.” E-Verify, created in 1996 and operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is a useful tool for U.S. employers to check the legal status of their newly hired employees. Specifically, the Social Security numbers of new hires are checked against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records in order to help ensure that new hires are genuinely eligible to work. The program quickly confirms 99.5% of work-eligible employees.
Today, more than 430,000 American employers voluntarily use E-Verify. Outside evaluations have found that the vast majority of employers using E-Verify believe it to be an effective and reliable tool for checking the legal status of their employees. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) released the following statements in advance of tomorrow’s hearing.
Chairman Goodlatte: “Although the infamous 1986 immigration overhaul promised sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants, those sanctions were never seriously enforced. The American people and Members of Congress have a lot of questions about how we are going to avoid the failures of the past in the future. It’s vital that any immigration reform bill contain a quick and easy way for employers to check the legal status of their newly hired employees. E-Verify is an easy and effective tool for American employers to use and it should be expanded.”
Subcommittee Chairman Gowdy: “Inasmuch as the 1986 immigration ‘reform’ effort failed to provide the ability or incentive to verify the status of potential employees, a functioning employment verification system is a condition precedent for future reform efforts.”
Witnesses for tomorrow’s hearing include:
Ms. Soraya Correa, Associate Director, Enterprises Services Directorate, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
Mr. Chris Gamvroulas, President, Ivory Homes;
Mr. Randel K. Johnson, Senior Vice President for Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and
Ms. Emily Tulli; Policy Attorney, National Immigration Law Center.
All House Judiciary Committee hearings are webcast live at www.judiciary.house.gov. The hearing will take place in 2141 Rayburn. For more information about Wednesday’s hearing, visit /_files/hearings/113th/hear_02272013.html