E-VERIFY DURING A PERIOD OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT

Abstract

In the last twenty years, there has been quantifiable growth in the number of unauthorized aliens in the United States. In March 2010, there were “11.2 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States,” with “8 million unauthorized immigrants in the workforce”; these numbers are substantially greater than the “3.5 million unauthorized immigrants [who were] living in the United States in 1990.” Unauthorized aliens only accounted for 5.2 percent of the national workforce. However, this percentage varies from state to state, and states with large shares of unauthorized aliens typically have a proportionately larger share in their workforce. Because of this, national and state governments have addressed immigration reform, with states that have a higher proportion of unauthorized aliens in their workforce being most aggressive in reform. Unfortunately, under the United States’ current economic conditions, some states have taken reform measures that could actually further cripple the economy. One such measure is the use of an online status verification system called E-Verify. Illegal immigration is fueled in part by labor pressures and “the need of U.S. employers for low-skill, low-wage labor, a need that is compounded by the shortage of legal workers as the ‘baby bust’ generation enters the labor market.”