Without congressional reauthorization, E-Verify, the electronic employment eligibility verification program, will sunset on September 30. E-Verify is intended to screen illegal immigrants out of the job market by turning off the “jobs magnet” that attracts them to American soil.
Many policymakers want to mandate E-Verify as part of an enforcement-only immigration policy. But its high error rate will delay or prevent employment for many current U.S. citizens, legal immigrants, and migrant workers. Furthermore, E-Verify is incapable of meaningfully locking unlawful immigrants out of America’s job market. If E-Verify is ever made permanent, and its inadequacy in stemming the flow of illegal migrants made apparent, the likely outcome will be the creation of a biometric identification system capable of regulating our lives in areas far outside of immigration enforcement. Join us for a discussion of E-Verify and its many perils.