Businesses who're whining about E-verify are lying sacks of stool.
E-verify is easy. It's FREE. And it's very effective.
Regarding government contractors, taxpayers have every right to expect contractors—who're already feeding at the taxpayers' trough—to employee some of those very same taxpayers, and pay those taxpayer-employees with some of their own tax-money, instead of giving it to an employee not even legally in this country. This much, at least, seems like a no-brainer.
from the article:
"
Although the system is free to use, opponents say costs add up from the man-hours it takes to comply with all of the requirements and the legal fees that stem from negotiating contracts under the new rule....Again, what a bunch of B.S. Just use the free service, heck the employees,and stop making phony excuses. The real reason they oppose it is obvious—they'd have to hire
legal employees, they'd have to demand that their subcontractors hired legal employees, and they'd have to account for the money paid under the table to illegal immigrant employees. Heaven forbid they'd have to obey the law. It's just such a "hassle." Waaaahhhh!
If the "small" business is truly "small," they wouldn't be hiring subcontractors anyway. They'd generally be hiring all of their own employees.
E-verify gives them a free, government-funded method to ensure that their employees are legal. It would actually help exonerate them if they were charged with illegal hiring, if they had checked their employees through E-verify.
And it's not "too much trouble" to just verify a Social Security number, either. A bank can do it in less than 60 seconds (I've seen them do it in person. And I've seen them catch an incorrect Social Security number in less than 60 seconds as well.)
The real reason is that employers could no longer use the "I didn't know" excuse, and they could no longer knowingly accept false identification for employment. Poor babies! They'd actually have to obey the law. It's just so unfair!
"
Critics argue that the system is clearly not foolproof as was shown after a raid on a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant that used E-Verify. Authorities found that several employees at the company gamed the system by using false Social Security numbers and stolen identities. "
?
Several employees? Out of how many? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
A minuscule number of errors does not negate the value of E-verify in the slightest.
Furthermore, employers are actually protected from prosecution if they've verified immigration status through E-verify. Of course, Swift foods
already knows this. But the minimal imperfections of the system give them at least some pitiful excuse to oppose it.
E-verify should be mandatory for all employers. It's already mandatory that employers report income and Social Security numbers to the IRS and the Social Security Administration. It takes little extra effort to check with E-verify, and costs little (if any) extra money. Again,
E-verify is free.
But E-verify
does make it a lot harder to find low-wage exploitable workers.
And that's the real issue.
In fact, it's the
only issue.