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When a worker

Machine-Readable Document Pilot Program

the law prompted some employers to discrim-

in 2003 as well.

inate wrongly against citizens and legal immi-

does not contest

Basic Pilot--first renamed the "employment

grants because of their Hispanic surnames,

his or her

eligibility verification" program, or EEV, and

poor English-language skills, or appearance.

tentative noncon-

then renamed again, "E-Verify"--is the remain-

Ten years later, with illegal immigration

ing effort to verify work eligibility electronically.

continuing apace, the Illegal Immigration

firmation within

As of May 2007, about 9,000 of the 17,000

Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of

the allotted time,

199612 sought to "improve on" the failing pol-

employers registered for the system were active

users.14 Currently, about 52,000 of the coun-

icy of internal enforcement. It required the

the employer is

Immigration and Naturalization Service to

try's 5.9 million employers have registered for

required to either

it--about .88 percent.15 Congress extended the

commence three pilot programs to test elec-

immediately

Basic Pilot program in January 200216 and

tronic verification of employees' work eligibili-

again in December 2003.17 It is currently set to

ty. These were the Citizen Attestation Verifi-

terminate the

cation Pilot Program, the Machine-Readable

expire in late 2008.

worker or notify

Document Pilot Program, and the Basic Pilot

DHS that it

Program. These three programs were intended

How Electronic Employment Verification

to test whether verification procedures could

Works

continues to

make the existing Form I-9 process better by (1)

After collecting I-9 forms, participating

employ the

reducing document fraud and false claims of

employers enter the information supplied by

U.S. citizenship, (2) discouraging discrimina-

workers into a government website. The sys-

worker--

tion against employees, (3) avoiding violations

tem compares these data with information

confessing to a

of civil liberties and privacy, and (4) minimiz-

held by the Social Security Administration

law violation.

ing the burden on employers to verify employ-

and with DHS databases. If the name and SSN

ees' work eligibility.13

pairs match to citizen data at the SSA, a work-

er is approved. The system compares informa-

The Citizen Attestation Verification Pilot

tion from noncitizens with DHS data to deter-

Program allowed workers to attest to their citi-

mine whether the employee is eligible to work.

zenship status. The status of new hires attest-

E-Verify electronically notifies employers

ing to being work-authorized noncitizens was

whether their employees' work authorization

electronically checked against information in

is confirmed. Submissions that the automat-

INS databases. Unsurprisingly, ineligible work-

ed check cannot confirm are referred to U.S.

ers simply attested to being citizens. Employers

Citizenship and Immigration Service staff in

did not ferret out this kind of fraud. Many did

the Department of Homeland Security, who

discriminate against work-authorized nonciti-

take further steps to verify eligibility or who

zens, however, likely because of the paperwork

find the worker ineligible.

and liability risks such workers presented. The

When E-Verify cannot confirm a worker's

Department of Homeland Security terminated

eligibility, it issues the employer a "tentative

the Citizen Attestation Verification Pilot

nonconfirmation." The employer must noti-

Program in 2003.

fy the affected worker of the finding, and the

DHS initiated the Machine-Readable Doc-

worker has the right to contest his or her ten-

ument Pilot Program in Iowa because that

tative nonconfirmation within eight working

state issued driver's licenses and ID cards car-

days by contacting the SSA or DHS.

rying the information required for the I-9 in

When a worker does not contest his or her

machine-readable form. Nevertheless, the pro-

tentative nonconfirmation within the allotted

gram had technical difficulties in reading the

time, the E-Verify program issues a final non-

driver's licenses and IDs, and it was under-

confirmation for the worker. The employer is re-

mined by the state's transition away from

quired to either immediately terminate the

using SSNs on driver's licenses, which was

worker or notify DHS that it continues to em-

done in the interest of protecting Iowans' pri-

ploy the worker--confessing to a law violation.

vacy and data security. DHS terminated the

5