Speech #1090142897

I note that today the Department of Homeland Security is announcing the publication of a regulation that addresses a deficiency in the work verification process to make sure that only people who can legally work In the United States are capable of doing so. Of course. this is long overdue. The Senate and the House have both passed immigration bills that would overhaul employment verification laws. Restricting the employment of undocumented workers as a means of reducing illegal immigration is not a new concept. For decades. policymakers have recognized that eliminating the magnet of illegal employment is the key. some might even say the linchpin. to controlling illegal immigration. In 1981. the bipartisan Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy recommended legislation making it illegal to hire undocumented workers. In 1997. the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform stated that eliminating the employment magnet is the linchpin of a comprehensive strategy to deter unlawful immigration. The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform went on to conclude that "the most promising option for verifying work authorization is a computerized registry based on the Social Security number." Despite 25 years of consensus. current employment verification laws are unworkable and unenforceable. An employer must review some combination of up to 29 different documents to determine whether a new worker is legal. Document fraud and identity theft have contributed to the problem. making it easier for unscrupulous employers to look the other way and hire unauthorized workers. The employer sanctions provisions that were passed in 1986. which were supposed to be the tradeoff for the amnesty provided to 3 million peoplethose employer sanctions have been completely ineffective. So while the amnesty was a success in the sense that 3 million people got a pass. the enforcement necessary to avoid another buildup of illegal aliens was never delivered. As I said at the outset. the Department of Homeland Security is issuing the publication of a regulation today that addresses this deficiency. It is proposing a rule that will help responsible employers ensure that they are not employing individuals who cannot legally work in the United States.