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Sen. Sessions Offers E-Verify Amendment to Unemployment Extension

Monday, October 26, 2009, 11:03 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Sen. Jeff Sessions

Sen. Jeff Sessions

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is offering an amendment to the unemployment extension bill that would require new applicants for unemployment compensation to have their citizenship status verified using E-Verify. The amendment is being offered to H.R.3548, which would extend unemployment benefits for 14 weeks.

Sen. Sessions' amendment states, "No individual may receive unemployment compensation benefits under any State or Federal law until after the date that the individual's identity and employment eligibility are verified through E-Verify Program..."

The amendment would also require the mandatory use of E-Verify for all federal contractors. It would mandate that contractors verify "(1) all individuals hired during the term of the contract by the contractor to perform employment duties within the United States; and (2) all individuals assigned by the contractor to perform work within the United States under such contract."

Lastly, the amendment would make the E-Verify program permanent. Currently, E-Verify needs to be re-authorized by Congress, and it was recently extended for three more years. 

The Senate has tentatively scheduled a cloture vote on H.R.3548 for Tuesday at 2 p.m. It failed to receive enough votes for cloture last week. Senate leaders are currently negotiating which amendments will be considered for the bill, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is trying to prevent a vote on the amendment altogether.

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Quotes

Sen. Wicker (R-Miss.) -- Increase Border Control, Expand E-Verify

Quotes - Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wicker said he has supported legislation to increase military presence on the country's border with Mexico and a more stringent employment verification system.

"We need to make sure the E-Verify system is as accurate and instantaneous as it can be," he said. "I know there are people who think it's inaccurate, (but) it seemed to be a system on the right track to me."

In a wide-ranging interview, Wicker said he disagrees that babies born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally should automatically become American citizens.

"I personally don't think that, and that alone, should confer citizenship on someone," Wicker said. "It would take a statute to be passed to say that interpretation of the 14th Amendment is incorrect. I would vote for such a statute to say something more has to take place than for the child to be physically born of illegal immigrant parents for that child to be a citizen."…

By Terry L. Jones -- Hattiesburg American

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS01/808270381

Publications

Fact Sheet: E-Verify

Fact Sheets - Thursday, October 22, 2009

Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding E-Verify.

By Rosemary Jenks

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In the News

SSA fails to E-Verify 19 percent of new hires, IG says

In the News - Monday, January 11, 2010

The Social Security Administration failed to perform required verifications of the Social Security numbers of 19 percent of its own new hires during a recent 18-month period, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general, Patrick O'Carroll Jr.

The SSA also improperly screened the identities of 75 volunteers, job candidates and existing employees and was either too early or too late in verifying the eligibility of 49 percent of its new hires, according to the audit of Jan. 6.

By Alice Lipowicz -- Federal Computer Week

http://fcw.com/articles/2010/01/11/web-everify-social-security-inspector-general.aspx

Immigration solution: E-Verify

In the News - Wednesday, December 30, 2009

If employers don't know about E-Verify yet, they soon will, and where E-Verify lurks, a national ID card is not far behind.

In September, the government required that employers awarded federal contracts or subcontracts must participate in E-Verify, an Internet-based system that uses Social Security, Alien Registration and I-94 Arrival-Departure documents to determine if employees are authorized to work in the U.S. Thirteen states require E-Verify for certain businesses; legislation is pending in another four. The Center for Immigration Studies says that use of E-Verify has increased from one in 19 hires in 2007 to one in four.

By Lawrence P. Lataif -- Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/commentary/immigration-solution-e-verify-154369.html

Panel recommends improvements to E-Verify

In the News - Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The need for E-Verify to determine legal eligibility to work in the United States has been rising, and will continue to grow as the Obama administration proposes reforms to cope with an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., the panel said.

However, the system is flawed. It sometimes falsely deems a legitimate employee ineligible to work, and identity thieves using stolen Social Security numbers and other documents can fool the system into clearing them.

By Alice Lipowicz - Washington Technology

http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/10/07/Report-recommends-improvements-to-EVerify.aspx?Page=1

Nice Guys Finish Last

In the News - Monday, August 24, 2009

In tough economic times, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should focus on ensuring a level playing field for honest businesses, and regulating unscrupulous firms who use illegal workers to cut costs and gain a competitive advantage. Clearly, the federal government should focus its enforcement efforts on the first company and not the second. It would be consistent with general beliefs of fairness and justice.

Unfortunately, if last week's federal register announcement of "dropping the no-match rule" is any indication, the DHS is squarely aiming its efforts on employers who are trying to do the right thing. By ignoring a critical tool that can help agents target employers and instead augmenting the monitoring and compliance of E-Verify users, as announced in May, the administration has turned our sense of fairness and justice upside down.

Julie Myers Wood -- Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/24/department-homeland-security-opinions-contributors-julie-myers_print.html