Oregon Statesman Journal

E-Verify checks worker status, draws criticism
System used by 3,000 Oregon employers now has naturalization data

By Thelma Guerrero-Huston
Statesman Journal

A federal Web-based system that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility status of newly hired workers has been enhanced, drawing praise from supporters and criticism from foes.

The E-Verify system, operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and used by more than 3,000 employers in Oregon, now contains naturalization data that allow for instant confirmation of a newly naturalized person’s citizenship.

The new feature, which is in effect, is intended to reduce the high number of erroneous no-match letters sent to employers and workers by the Social Security Administration.

“We’re confident that the enhancements … will help us achieve that goal,” USCIS acting director Jonathan Scharfen said in a statement.

E-Verify allows employers to check immediately whether a newly hired employee is in the United States legally.

So far, about 64,000 employers in the nation have voluntarily signed up to use the system, according to USCIS officials.

In Salem, documents provided by workers at each of the eight Baskin-Robbins are checked using the electronic system.

Using E-Verify “guarantees that those who are eligible to work get proper credit for taxes they pay and their Social Security contributions,” said Stephen Caldeira, a spokesman for Dunkin’ Brands, Baskin-Robbins’ parent company, adding that the system has made hiring easier.

Rich Meneghello, an attorney with Fisher & Phillips, a national labor-and-employment law firm with an office in Portland that represents employers with large immigrant work forces, said that while employers they represent use the system, they also share concerns about its effectiveness.

Among those concerns are glitches that can lead to serious difficulties for some who wrongly are classified as not legal to work in the U.S., Meneghello said.

“As with any database, there are problems,” he said. “But I believe they’re doing the best they can to ensure its timeliness and accuracy.”

But the majority of the nation’s employers are holding out, charging that the electronic system is inefficient, prone to error, and incapable of being ramped up to handle high volumes of traffic from employers across the U.S.

Some, like Francisco López, an organizer for several Latino groups in Marion County, worry that the upgrade could lead to racial profiling of workers with Spanish surnames.

Before the new feature was implemented, newly minted citizens who received a no-match letter had to visit an SSA office to show proof of their citizenship status.

Now, a worker with a no-match letter will be checked against USCIS databases, eliminating a trip to the SSA.

While E-Verify is voluntary, several proposals making their way through Congress would make use of the system mandatory.

In the 2009 federal budget, President Bush included an expenditure of $100 million to expand and enhance the system.

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