Though the stimulus package racing through the house is unlikely to work, some Republicans are going a step further and seeking to ensure that it does lasting damage to our economy — and to the freedom of our society.

Amendments to the stimulus bill in committee last week include one to reauthorize “E‑Verify,” the budding national identification and government background check system. Another would mandate the use of E‑Verify by any business receiving stimulus money.

The growth of E‑Verify would raise costs on business and make it harder for many law-abiding Americans to get work, draining energy from the economy at precisely the wrong time — not that there’s ever a good time.

I wrote about electronic employment verification programs like E‑Verify in a paper called “Franz Kafka’s Solution to Illegal Immigration.”