Story of uncountable failings

Senator Schultheis' bill, far from being a benefit to Colorado and the business community, would threaten to pull licenses and fine businesses out of existence when they are unable to comply with the E-Verify program.

Small businesses employ approximately half of the entire U.S. workforce and generated most of the new jobs our country has created since 2000. These businesses, already struggling in the current economy, would face additional bureaucratic burdens if required to use E-Verify

Colorado's 2006 immigration enforcement laws, which included mandatory use of E-Verify for all state departments, cost $2.03 million and failed to identify a single undocumented worker.

E-verify is such an unwieldy program to implement that our nation's very own Social Security Administration (SSA) failed to use it correctly, according to a report released two weeks ago by the SSA Inspector General.

The SSA, a huge federal agency with every conceivable technological support and advantage, tried to implement E-Verify and failed miserably. The SSA failed to timely verify new employees under E-Verify program rules almost half the time. The SSA also completely failed to verify one in five new hires. In addition, the agency improperly ran E-Verify checks on existing employees, volunteers and people who hadn't yet been hired - all in direct violation of E-Verify program rules.

The lesson to all this is clear: if the SSA cannot implement and use E-Verify correctly, and if the state spent over $2 million and didn't find a single undocumented worker, imagine asking small businesses in Colorado to navigate this program.

According to the American Council on International Personnel, the reason 99 percent of employers have not enrolled in E-Verify is not because they are hiring undocumented workers or shirking their employment verification responsibilities. It's because E-verify requires personnel, technology, internet access and a host of other resources. Taking into account the realities of many small businesses here in Colorado, implementation of that program for every employer in the state would create a logistical nightmare.

We're talking about a system that fails even when employers have the resources to implement the program and do their best to follow the rules.

A problematic employment verification system exposes workers to unjust treatment but it is also risky for employers. If an employer uses e-verify incorrectly, or if the system has an error, and someone is fired erroneously, an employer could become liable.

The intended purpose of e-verify is keeping those who are not eligible to work off of business payrolls. We can all agree that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. However, in the absence of a common sense overhaul to our nation's immigration laws, local business owners should not be charged with enforcing immigration policies via an unreliable, inefficient, and expensive mandatory E-Verify system.

Eric Popkin, PhD. Colorado College, Colorado Springs

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