E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Employment Verification

Employment Verification

E Verify

Verification of an employee's authorization to work has been a tenet of U.S. immigration policy since 1986, when Congress first required employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of their workers. This less-known pillar of immigration enforcement, designed to address the jobs magnet that draws workers into the country illegally,  is receiving new attention as the federal government continues to refine and expand its electronic employment eligibility verification system, known as E-Verify. The research here examines issues associated with electronic employment verification and challenges in developing an effective system.

Recent Activity

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a conference in Tampa.
Articles
7-Eleven in Los Angeles
Articles
Coverthumb TrumpFirstYearImmigrationPolicy
Reports
January 2018
By  Sarah Pierce, Jessica Bolter and Andrew Selee
Trump at a rally in Phoenix.
Articles
NicaraguanCoffeePickers IngmarZahorsky Flickr
Articles

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a conference in Tampa.

Renewed U.S. state activism on immigration has echoes of the early 2010s, when Arizona’s SB 1070 defined a Republican-led push to increase enforcement that was ultimately muted by the courts and public backlash. Newer strategies rely on a novel array of tactics including migrant busing, litigation, and lawmaking. States are also moving in opposite directions, with some expanding rights for unauthorized immigrants, as this article details.

7-Eleven in Los Angeles

An unannounced sweep of 98 convenience stores by U.S. immigration authorities—resulting in the arrest of 21 unauthorized workers—may signal a new approach to worksite enforcement under the Trump administration, moving away from a strategy of paper-based audits that resulted in higher employer fines and fewer worker arrests. This article explores worksite enforcement over recent decades.

Trump at a rally in Phoenix.

The Trump administration has released a list of hardline immigration demands—including border wall funding, restrictions on federal grants to “sanctuary” cities, and cuts to legal immigration—in exchange for legislation protecting DREAMers. This article examines the prospects for these proposals and more broadly for a legislative fix to resolve the status of unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children.

NicaraguanCoffeePickers IngmarZahorsky Flickr

With the growing urbanization and consolidation of Nicaraguan immigrants in sectors such as construction and domestic service, Costa Rica has shifted its focus from immigration enforcement to integration. Tension has emerged between the government and private sector as a new mechanism for regularizing unauthorized immigrant workers has failed to gain traction.

Just a fraction of all U.S. employers use E-Verify, a federal system that checks potential employees' immigration status and their eligibility to work. MPI's Marc Rosenblum explores E-Verify's history, how it works, and the arguments for and against making it mandatory.

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EVENT PHOTO 20155.12.14 MEXICAN FOREIGN SECRETARY2L
Video, Audio
December 15, 2015

An MPI Leadership Visions discussion with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Claudia Ruiz-Massieu, for her first public appearance in Washington, DC. 

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Video, Audio
October 31, 2013

The 10th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, as well as panel discussions covering a range of key immigration topics.

multimedia HouseDivided
Video, Audio
August 7, 2013

MPI experts participate in a video chat shortly after the Migration Policy Institute released an analysis comparing the major provisions of the Senate bill to those of the individual House bills considered to date in House committees. 

MI_FormidableMachinary
Video, Audio
January 7, 2013

MPI has released a major study that describes and analyzes today’s immigration enforcement programs, as they have developed and grown in the 25 years since IRCA launched the current enforcement era.

Three panelists in auditorium
Audio
October 1, 2012

The conference offers thoughtful, evidence-based law and policy analysis and discussion of cutting-edge immigration issues.

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Recent Activity

Policy Briefs
February 2011

An effective electronic eligibility verification system is an essential component of the U.S. immigration system, but questions as to whether the E-Verify employment verification system should be made mandatory remain. This report examines the strengths and weaknesses of E-Verify, and discusses proposals for reform.

Video, Audio
March 22, 2010

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas details his agenda for his agency and discusses top priorities for USCIS.

Audio, Webinars
July 30, 2009

This webinar examines the E-Verify system, offering short- and long-term recommendations for improving gaps in employment verification and addressing an "employer-centric" design that exacerbates existing problems.

Video
July 20, 2009
This discussion focuses on E-Verify, the federal government's electronic employment verification system, and the release of an MPI report that assesses the program's strengths and weaknesses.
Reports
July 2009

This report provides an in-depth examination of the limitations of the existing E-Verify system. Alongside recommendations for strengthening E-Verify and mitigating its unintended consequences, the report offers proposals for three next-generation verification pilot concepts that would tap new technologies and practices to overcome the core weaknesses of the system.

Articles

Just a fraction of all U.S. employers use E-Verify, a federal system that checks potential employees' immigration status and their eligibility to work. MPI's Marc Rosenblum explores E-Verify's history, how it works, and the arguments for and against making it mandatory.

Reports
February 2009

This report assesses the performance of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the course of the agency’s first six years, examines the effectiveness of the three core immigration agencies within DHS—U.S Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Reports
December 2008

This report looks at E-Verify, the Internet-based employment verification program operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration. The program gives employers a means to electronically verify the work eligibility of newly hired employees.

 

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