E-Verify illegal-worker screening system has holes, report says

Palm Beach Post - ^ | Jan. 17, 2011 | Jim Stratton

[moonshinner_09]

Within an hour of becoming Florida's 45th governor, Rick Scott signed an order meant to ensure that anyone working for the state was in the country legally.

But the screening system that Scott is relying on lets unauthorized workers slip through its filter more than half the time because it cannot spot identity theft, according to a federal report.

The E-Verify system, a federal database available to employers, failed to identify those workers as unauthorized 54 percent of the time, according to an audit released last year. Investigators discovered that was the percentage of illegal workers incorrectly deemed eligible for work.

The study done for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services found that overall, the system correctly determined a worker's immigration status 96 percent of the time.

But among those ultimately found to be here illegally — the group Scott is concerned about — its accuracy rate plunged.

Researchers wrote that the results were "not surprising" given that many unauthorized workers use someone else's identity to get a job.

[moonshinner_09]

many unauthorized workers use someone else's identity to get a job and said people are left to clear their mames,credit records, IRS issues, if on ss they can stop them from getting the extra help needed, the income would come back as being to high. A lot of lives are turned upside down. Most places want even charge illegals with fraud, they use the defense of I didn't know the name was assigned to a citizen when I bought it off the street for $ 100.00 there was no disclaimer to sign.

[FreeAtlanta]

I wonder if Obama could have passed the e-verify system?

[forgotten man]

Why don’t we enforce the laws against identity theft? Convict them, throw their illegal asses in prison, and deport them after they serve thier prison sentences. If the illegal re-enter the USA after deportation give them more prison time. The problem is that our laws are not respected because the laws are not enforced!

[Joe Brower]

This is agitprop, plain and simple.

We finally get someone in charge who vows to use the facilities created by the FedGov to stop illegal immigration, and the leftmedia quickly spews out a hit piece on that selfsame facility. Funny how they never mentioned any of this until now. Golly, something isn't 100% perfect, so it's just no good at all. Unless it serves their anti-American agenda, that is. Which rooting out and deport illegals apparently does not.

And gee, isn't E-Verify something created by that godlike entity that all good collectivists worship -- the Great God Government, maker of ObamaCare and all else that is good? These creatures are obviously oblivious to their own double-standards and relative morals. That, or they're just dyed-in-the-wool liars. I vote for answer #2.

Florida Freeper

[HiJinx]

Ping!

[EternalVigilance]

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

I hate E-Verify. Every American being required to be in a government database and to get permission from a bureaucrat in order to work.

So, the politicians refuse to do their job and enforce our laws, and their solution is for all Americans to give up their liberty to supposedly compensate.

Bad deal. Real bad.

[seekthetruth]

So OK. We start out catching 50% of the illegals, and that is better than doing nothing! I am sure Governor Scott will make sure the problems with E-verify are corrected in due time.

[Goldwater Girl]

There are terrible problems with E-verify, especially for naturalized citizens. The reason, of course, is because the idiots in DC don't share data bases, or keep the ones they have updated. Why the Social Security Administration can't figure out the same SS number is being used in several places and jobs simultaneously is beyond my comprehension. They claim privacy laws prevent it- which is nonsense.
That said, while better than nothing, E-verify will do some good. Not for the actual state employees, but for the contractors who build roads, buildings, bridges, etc for the state.

And we need to contact our Congresscritters to FIX it! If the dumb bureaucrats can't figure it out- privatize the system to work seamlessly. Update the SS database with births and deaths, new citizens and legal workers, to make identity theft harder. Share that database with INS, Homeland Security and E-Verify, so they are all working with the same data set. And dedicate the bandwidth to allow HR people to check ALL applicants. As it is now, the employer isn't notified his new hire is illegal until weeks AFTER they are hired, because the system can't handle the volume to check all the names. No wonder businesses think its a giant waste of time, and illegals slip through all the time. Another benefit might be to let us all know if our SS# is being used fraudulently before the criminal starts opening charge accounts in our name, too!
Kudos to the new Governor for making a start on fixing this mess. GG

[bushpilot1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4cE0RZo8DcU