May 6 is upon us. The day that there’s a huge E-Verify hearing on Capitol Hill. And the day that E-Verify proponents (there are few) will face off against the Society of Human Resource Managers and other groups that support Texas Sen. Sam Johnson’s employment verification bill.
There’s a fine entry in Workforce Washington about it. Best line in the piece:
So, in typical Washington fashion, the DHS decides to inoculate against such criticism by unveiling two enhancements to the system the day before a Tuesday, May 6, House Ways & Means subcommittee hearing on employer verification.
The two major changes:
1. Naturalization data will be added into the master E-Verify database (which now is comprised of DHS and Social Security Administration data).
2. Non-confirmed workers will be able to go to USCIS to resolve their issues rather than working through SSA.
From an operational standpoint, these are two good improvements. Naturalization data should tighten E-Verify’s error rate. And shifting some of the fix burden away from SSA is always a good thing.
Watch the May 6 debate for foreshadows: Congress has to extend the law that authorizes E-Verify in November.
