The case for passing E-Verify in Oregon

 

1.  Unemployment in Oregon hovers close to 6 percent.  The state’s U-6 unemployment rate (involuntary part-time workers) averaged 14.2 percent for 2014.   In a study done by Oregon State Professor William Jaeger in June of 2008, he estimated that there were about 100,000 illegal aliens in the Oregon work force.   A 2010 report by the Pew Hispanic Research Center estimates the number at 130,000.   It is unconscionable that American citizens have to complete for jobs against illegal aliens at any time, let alone during the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

 

2.  All employers should be required to use the federal E-Verify program to verify that new hires are legally entitled to work in the U.S.

 

3.  E-Verify is not a retrospective look into an existing labor force rather it only verifies the work eligibility of new hires.

 

4.  Currently the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), states that over 500,000 companies nationwide have voluntarily signed up for the E-Verify program.  E-Verify is the only free, fast, online service of its kind that verifies employees' data against millions of government records, including Social Security records, and provides results within as little as three to five seconds. 

 

5.  As of April 1, 2015, over 3400 companies in Oregon have voluntarily signed up for E-Verify.   

 

6.  All contractors doing business with the federal government are now required to use the program.

 

7.  A 2013 User survey by an independent firm showed high satisfaction with E-Verify: 97% said E-Verify is user friendly; 92% said E-Verify is effective; 89% said E-Verify is highly accurate.

 

8.  In February 2012, E-Verify added a service called Self Check, which enables citizens to test their Social Security number in the E-Verify program to confirm accuracy.  Thus anyone can make certain in advance that one’s standing as a legal worker is intact.  Self Check is also available in Spanish.

 

9.  DHS states that most employees are automatically confirmed as work authorized either instantly or within 24 hours.  

 

10.  Currently 19 states require use of E-Verify in certain circumstances:  Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.