American Civil Liberties Union

The war on America's immigrants can lead to some very strange results. In a classic example, last year Republicans actually said, when it comes to immigration at least, new government regulations actually create jobs. But these attacks on immigrants cause real harm to ordinary Americans who don't think that immigration affects them. We've already talked about how mistakes in E-Verify, the federal database of eligible workers, can keep Americans from getting jobs. Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing that highlights another problem with E-Verify.

Ms. W, a Native American woman in Washington State, was convicted in 2008 for possession of marijuana. After applying for a job at a discount retail store and receiving a conditional offer of employment, Ms. W received a call from the manager telling her that a background check company had given her a failing evaluation, without providing the employer with any further information.

As a result of this evaluation, the employer rescinded the conditional offer of employment. When Ms. W investigated, she found out that her background check erroneously reflected a more serious offense. Although the background check company subsequently corrected Ms. W's report, the damage had been done.