Reps. Lamar Smith and Elton Gallegly: ‘E-Verify works; let’s use it’

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Lamar Smith and Chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee Rep. Elton Gallegly wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times discussing the merits of E-Verify. In their op-ed, the two Congressmen detail E-Verify’s success rate, effectiveness, and high customer service scores and say making the system’s use mandatory nationwide is a priority for their committees.

The program quickly confirms 99.5% of work-eligible employees. Even though E-Verify is not mandatory, many employers willingly use the program. More than 250,000 American employers currently use it, and an average of 1,300 new businesses sign up each week.

Part of the reason for E-Verify’s success is that participating employers are happy with the results. Outside evaluations have found that the vast majority of employers using E-Verify believe it to be an effective and reliable tool for checking the legal status of their employees. In fact, after being subjected to several Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audits, Chipotle now uses E-Verify at all of its restaurants nationwide to help ensure that it hires legal workers.

Reps. Smith and Gallegly make the case for using E-Verify as a way to reducing the illegal workforce and removing the jobs magnet that lures illegal aliens to the United States.

While 26 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, 7 million individuals work illegally in the United States. On top of all the challenges Americans face today, it is inexcusable that Americans and legal workers have to compete with illegal immigrants for scarce jobs.

To read the full op-ed, see the Los Angeles Times.