That E-Verify already is entrenched in the industry that lured foreign laborers to Nebraska has critics questioning why the state would spend resources to make the program mandatory. They also cite the system's error rate and the risk of discrimination.

Even supporter Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesman, expressed caution over expecting too much.

"It is not a catch-all," said Mickelson, whose company employs about 8,000 in Nebraska.

Still, he and other proponents say, E-Verify is the best tool government has to offer to help ensure an authorized labor force. Free to the employer, the program works by cross-referencing personal data provided by job applicants with federal databases.

Joining SHRM in filing the lawsuit are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors, American Council on International Personnel and the HR Policy Association.

"The plunging U.S. economy and subsequent cuts in the construction, service and manufacturing industries are prompting many immigrant workers, particularly those in the United States illegally, to contemplate a life-changing decision: Do they stay and earn far less, or head home to meager opportunities?"

Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants.

Now, owner James D. Reid finds himself in a predicament that he considers especially confounding. In October, he was fined $22,880 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators said he failed to check identification and work documents and fill out required I-9 verification forms for employees, five of whom he said were part of crews sent to Chertoff's home and whom ICE told him to fire because they were undocumented.

"Kris Stuebner, director of administration for the Fresno-based JEM, said the company started using the system because of the concern over hiring a legal work force. "We wanted to do the right thing," Stuebner said.

And while the system allows the company to check an employee's work status by quickly verifying a person's Social Security number and name, it's not without challenges, said Stuebner, who attended a seminar about E-Verify on Tuesday. The event, held at the Piccadilly Inn in Fresno, was sponsored by the California Employers Association...."

 

"Mr. Bilbray and Mr. Shuler have launched a campaign to circumvent the obstructionists by getting 218 signatures on a discharge petition that would permit the legislation to come to the House floor for a vote - regardless of what the speaker wants. The congressmen need 218 signatures on their petition; right now, they have 188. Only 10 of those 188 signers are Democrats, and they run the risk of retaliation from the Democratic Party leadership...."

Something unorthodox occurred on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The House Republican leadership began pushing a “discharge petition” — a procedural maneuver designed to force a floor vote — on a piece of Democratic legislation. The bill in question is the SAVE Act, authored by freshmen Congressman Heath Shuler (D., N.C.). As written, the SAVE Act’s most notable provisions would add 8,000 border-patrol agents, and within four years mandate that businesses use a government program to verify the legal citizenship of all employees...

... we joined together to craft the Secure America with Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act. The SAVE Act provides a three-pronged approach to curb illegal immigration: enhanced border security, employment verification and dramatically increased enforcement of our nation's existing laws...

... Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.), backed by her leaders, filed the discharge petition calling for a vote on the Shuler bill, which would add 8,000 border guards to the federal payroll, expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants and expand an existing database for employers to check the eligibility of a potential worker. ...

Minority Whip Roy Blunt , R-Mo., said he expects about 100 Republicans to sign the petition by Rep. Thelma Drake , R-Va., which seeks to bring to the House floor border enforcement legislation introduced by Rep. Heath Shuler , D-N.C. Shuler’s bill has 141 cosponsors — 93 Republicans and 48 Democrats. But it is not clear how many Democrats will sign the discharge petition. The petition represents a direct challenge to their party’s leaders, who have not embraced Shuler’s bill.

"'If they're trying to make another effort at amnesty in the fall, then this is a pretty smart thing they're doing,' said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a Virginia-based organization that helped engineer a fierce grass-roots campaign in June to defeat a bipartisan Senate bill that would have offered legalization to undocumented immigrants..."

"'The No. 1 reason people come here illegally is for jobs, and if employers are able to continue to employ illegal aliens we will continue to have an influx of illegal aliens,' said Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a Washington nonprofit that lobbies for limiting immigration..."

"The money and the lobbying power is stacked against us," said a representative of NumbersUSA. "This is an issue that people see and experience the effects of on an everyday basis. There is definitely a very powerful grass-roots activism on this issue."

NumbersUSA has more than 300,000 activists sending faxes and calling Congress, an increase from 100,000 two years ago. More than 1 million people receive e-mail alerts from the group.

"'We'd like to see mandatory employment verification in any bill that passes,' Caroline Espinosa of Numbers USA told BNA. 'We'll take it any way we can get it.' Describing her group as an "immigration reduction organization," Espinosa said that the goal of reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. could be achieved by 'attrition through mandatory enforcement...'"

"'If they're trying to make another effort at amnesty in the fall, then this is a pretty smart thing they're doing,' said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a Virginia-based organization that helped engineer a fierce grass-roots campaign in June to defeat a bipartisan Senate bill that would have offered legalization to undocumented immigrants..."

"'The No. 1 reason people come here illegally is for jobs, and if employers are able to continue to employ illegal aliens we will continue to have an influx of illegal aliens,' said Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a Washington nonprofit that lobbies for limiting immigration..."

"The money and the lobbying power is stacked against us," said a representative of NumbersUSA. "This is an issue that people see and experience the effects of on an everyday basis. There is definitely a very powerful grass-roots activism on this issue."

NumbersUSA has more than 300,000 activists sending faxes and calling Congress, an increase from 100,000 two years ago. More than 1 million people receive e-mail alerts from the group.

"'We'd like to see mandatory employment verification in any bill that passes,' Caroline Espinosa of Numbers USA told BNA. 'We'll take it any way we can get it.' Describing her group as an "immigration reduction organization," Espinosa said that the goal of reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. could be achieved by 'attrition through mandatory enforcement...'"