Smith to President: E-Verify Best Jobs Plan on the Table

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) issued the following statement calling on President Obama to include E-Verify in his jobs plan.

Chairman Smith: “Last week, President Obama gave yet another job creation speech that was aimed at protecting one job-his own.  Two months after President Obama took office, the number of unemployed Americans surpassed 13 million for the first time in history.  Now, two years after he took office, nearly 14 million Americans are unemployed and another nine million can’t find full-time work.  President Obama has a right to be concerned about his job.

“But if President Obama is indeed focused on putting 23 million unemployed or underemployed Americans back to work, there is one element that is missing from his jobs plan: a federal E-Verify requirement.   This is one of the best options on the table to put unemployed Americans back to work.

“E-Verify is a web-based program that quickly identifies individuals working illegally in the United States and protects jobs for legal workers by checking the Social Security numbers of new hires.  It’s free, quick, and easy to use-individuals eligible to work are immediately confirmed 99.5% of the time.

“We could open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans by requiring all U.S. employers to use E-Verify.  The House Judiciary Committee will take the first step in making this goal a reality by marking up the Legal Workforce Act this week.  Congress should pass this bill and the President should sign it into law-it’s one of the best jobs bills currently under consideration.”

On Thursday at 9:30 a.m., the House Judiciary Committee will markup H.R. 2885, the Legal Workforce Act.  This bill could open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans by requiring all U.S. employers to use E-Verify. 

Even though E-Verify is not mandatory, many businesses voluntarily use the program.  Nearly 290,000 American employers use E-Verify and an average of 1,300 new businesses sign up each week. 

The Legal Workforce Act enjoys support from a broad coalition, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Home Builders, National Restaurant Association, American Council on International Personnel, Society for Human Resource Management, Associated General Contractors of America, Associated Builders and Contractors, National Council of Chain Restaurants, National Roofing Contractors Association, Tree Care industry Association, International Franchise Association, American Hotel and Lodging Association, American Staffing Association, NumbersUSA, and Federation for American Immigration Reform.