Monday, March 22, 2010

PROPOSED BILL TO REQUIRE ALL BUSINESSES TO USE E-VERIFY

A new bill proposed by Rep. Bobby Reese wants to mount additional cumbersome requirements on all businesses in Georgia by requiring all of them to participate in the E-Verify program administered by DHS.
The bill, House Bill 1259, known as The Georgia Employer and Worker Protection Act of 2010, was suggested under guise of protecting American workers. I doubt that is the true intention behind the bill, but even if it is, will do very little, if any, to protect American workers, while increasing paperwork and administration burden and costs on employers.
It was recently reported that the E-Verify system is still wrought with inaccuracies, up to 54% of the time when dealing with legal employees (such as U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents). When such a person gets a negative hit, they may be rejected employment or run around between different government agencies (such as the Social Security Administration) to figure out where the mistake is. Under current conditions, it is more likely that a lawful person will be rejected from employment than someone without authorization to be accepted to work.
It is ironic that the Republicans, who are supposed to be advocating for free business and less government intervention, are actually acting contrary to those fundamental beliefs when it comes to immigration.