Senate bill would make E-Verify mandatory

summary of the bill, S. 744 would phase in the requirement for the mandatory use of E-Verify by employers over a period of five years after enactment:

• Employers with more than 5,000 employees will be phased in within 2 years.
• Employers with more than 500 employees will be phased in within 3 years.
• All employers, including agricultural employers, will be phased in within 4 years.

S. 744 also would enhance E-Verify through changes such as “photo matching” that requires non-citizens to show their “biometric work authorization card” or their “biometric green card” with a photograph to be stored in the E-Verify system. In addition, S. 744 would provide additional security by allowing employees to “lock” their Social Security number (SSN) in the E-Verify system so they cannot be used by another individual, investigate whether SSNs are being improperly used multiple times, and allow employees to check their E-Verify history. However, some critics suggest that it won’t work as planned. The Daily Caller claims that the bill would instantly gut the popular E-Verify system that is widely used to exclude illegal immigrants from jobs, and then create an enforcement gap for several years before the arrival of a replacement system. “There’s no doubt that the bill eliminates E-Verify immediately upon signing,” said Kris Kobach, secretary of state of Kansas, told The Daily Caller. “If there’s no statutory authority for E-Verify, there’s no E-Verify,” said Kobach, a lawyer trained at Harvard, Oxford and Yale universities, and a prominent advocate for reduced immigration. S. 744 was introduced by the by the Senate’s so called “gang of eight” made up of Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).]]>