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Proposed Immigration-Check System Said to be Not Ready for Prime Time

Under a system being considered by Congress, employers would submit information about their employees to a federally administered electronic system that would automatically check workers' immigration status. Unfortunately, the system has “a checkered track record,” according to a report in the Washington Post.

The program is intended to keep illegal immigrants from working in the United States and to discourage more from entering. But it has so far had trouble distinguishing between those who are here legally and those who are not, the Post reported. Fixing it and rolling it out nationwide could cost more than $1 billion.

The so-called Basic Pilot Program electronically searches a combination of Social Security and immigration databases to verify an employee's status. The voluntary Homeland Security program currently has about 6,000 employers enrolled. It would extend to the country's approximately 8 million employers if Congress passes, and the president signs, either the House or Senate version of the legislation. Employers who skirt the rules would be subject to stiff fines, with jail sentences for repeat offenders, according to the Post article.

Reviews of the pilot program have found that it has the potential to limit illegal immigration, but it suffers from deficiencies in catching identity fraud, database integrity, and possible employer abuse.

Officials with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees the pilot program, say they are aware of its shortcomings and have been making progress in fixing them. Immigration databases have not been updated quickly enough as workers enter the country or as their status changes.

The recently passed Senate amendment would give workers the benefit of the doubt until the program is proven effective, would allow workers to seek back wages from the government in cases of error, and would, in some cases, limit employers’ liability for hiring illegal workers—but would also increase the penalties.

Many of the program's operational details are still being worked out. House and Senate legislation differ over how quickly the program would take effect and whether it would include all existing employees or just new hires. Funding is also an issue, the Post report said.

Under the new system, employers would submit employees identification information over either the phone or the Internet. Software would compare employee records against Social Security Administration and immigration documents. In most cases, employees would be cleared immediately. But if they are not, government workers would begin a manual search of the records to see if a match was overlooked, a process that can take several days. If the employee is still not cleared, he or she would be issued "a tentative nonconfirmation" and has 10 business days to contest the ruling. Employers would be forbidden from firing an employee until they receive a final notice confirming that the worker is ineligible.

The system would replace the forgery-prone and paper-based system based on the I-9 form, the Post said.

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