The Legal Workforce Act (LWA) was introduced on Wednesday, June 15, 2011, by Congressman Larmar Smith, R-Texas. This legislation would require all employers to enroll in the E-Verify process to allow employers to check the immigration status on their employees to prevent from illegally hiring immigrants. This act also includes safeguards against fraud such as criminal penalties of up to two years in jail and fines for any individual that offers a fake social security number or DHS-approved ID or authorization number in E-Verify screening. The LWA will also only apply to new hires and will not be required for farm workers returning to former employees.
Proponents of this act argue that E-Verify will open up more job opportunities for Americans and legal aliens by eliminating those jobs that currently go to undocumented workers. These proponents are backed by the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding an Arizona law requiring all employers to check the legal status of their employees using E-Verify.
Opponents cite accuracy issues as the biggest problem with the LWA. According to a report released last year by USCIS, 54% of the unauthorized workers ran through E-Verify resulted in an authorization to work; USCIS attributed this error to identity fraud. Regardless of the cause this massive inaccuracy has resulted in low public confidence in the program. Opponents also believe that this new system will cost more than it’s worth by burdening businesses with the extra work involved.
While the Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a similar law in Arizona, this legislation takes a direct stab at the state and local immigration laws. This act will nullify all state laws regarding employing undocumented workers and gives that regulatory power back to the federal government. This echoes the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1987 where the federal government granted amnesty for over 3 million immigrants in exchange for prohibiting the hiring of undocumented workers. History shows that this failed and State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and The State Legislators of Legal Immigration believe that the only successful immigration policy is one that includes the cooperation of the federal, state, and local governments.
Despite all, public opinion might already be behind the legislation; a study by Pulse Opinion Research noted that 81% of 1,000 Americans randomly polled supported the mandatory use of E-Verify.