American Civil Liberties Union

Program is plagued with errors and harms innocent workers<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: (202) 675-2312, media@dcaclu.org

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union rebukes the U.S. House of Representatives for this evening’s reauthorization of the national voluntary employment-verification program (E-Verify). The House has extended a system proven to be ineffective in verifying potential employees’ work status. It has been plagued with errors and has prevented innocent applicants from working.

The following can be attributed to Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel:

“After months of congressional hearings exposing the deep and unresolved flaws in E-Verify, the House of Representatives hastily reauthorized this problematic initiative – even after the release of numerous scathing governmental reports demonstrating that, E-Verify is harmful for the American workforce, often preventing innocent workers from earning a living. To add insult to injury, a Congressional Budget Office report has found E-Verify to be exceptionally costly to taxpayers.

"Without a substantial overhaul to provide real redress for aggrieved U.S. workers wrongly prevented from working due to lousy databases and even lousier red tape, E-Verify will remain poison, not medicine for our immigration ills.

"If E-Verify goes ahead as planned, employers can expect delays for much-needed new employees starting to work; employees can expect to be in legal limbo awaiting governmental approval to start working and earning a paycheck. Our already weak economy will suffer due to this short-sighted attempt to placate political leaders. The U.S. Senate should see E-Verify for the mess it has become and put a stop to its negative effects to our workforce.”