Employee Verification System (E-VERIFY) Rife with Flaws

E-Verify, the electronic employment verification system that is supposed to verify employee work eligibility is rife with problems. It has produced inaccurate results, adds costs to businesses large and small, and builds in incentives--based on those costs--for businesses to engage in racial profiling.

The ACLU of California, comprising the three ACLU affiliates in the state, is releasing an electronic report today detailing the flaws and problems.

In California, a number of localities, including San Diego, San Bernardino County, and Riverside County, have mandated--or soon will--E-Verify. The ACLU of California urges state leaders and local governments to reject imposition of a mandatory electronic verification system. Use of this system will cause great harm to employers across the state and to lawful workers and their families while doing little to dissuade undocumented workers from finding employment.

There is enough evidence that the system's negative impact on American workers remains significant, while the potential gains are still--at best--a mirage.