USICS Publishes Report on E Verify - Program Improvement Shown But Issues Remain

Dallas, TX, Aug. 27, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- E‑Verify is a program intended to reduce unauthorized employment by electronically verifying whether newly hired employees are authorized to work in the United States. The Westat report measured the occurrence within the system of both Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) and Final Nonconfirmations (FNCs) issued to workers erroneously.  A TNC occurs when worker I-9 information and government records do not match, and obligates the worker to contest the TNC by taking affirmative steps.  An FNC occurs when the worker does not contest not being work authorized.  The Westat report found that the rate of erroneous TNCs had dropped, though it had not dropped for non‑U.S. citizens authorized to work, such as permanent residents.

"While it is comforting to know that the rate of erroneous TNCs for U.S. citizens has declined (unless you are a U.S. citizen receiving one,) it is of little comfort that the rate of E‑Verify TNCs has not declined for noncitizens," said Stewart Rabinowitz, a Texas Board Certified immigration attorney.

According to the Westat report, the erroneous TNC rate for E‑Verify was 0.3 percent in fiscal year 2009, and had been declining for some time. However, all of the decrease was due to a drop in the rate of erroneous TNCs for U.S. citizens, which fell to 0.2 percent. The rate for permanent residents was 0.7 percent and the rate for other employment‑authorized noncitizens was 4.2 percent, yielding an overall rate of erroneous TNCs for noncitizens that remains at 1.5 percent.

The Westat report said that the overall accuracy rate of the program, as measured by the percentage of workers who receive FNCs and are actually not authorized to work, was 94 percent. According to the report, most of the error rate is attributable to employers failing to inform workers of a TNC or properly explain the TNC process, leading to employment‑authorized workers receiving FNCs.

The E‑Verify program is currently voluntary for most employers, though a few states mandate its use and some federal contractors are required to use it. Immigration reform currently being debated by Congress is expected to expand the program nationwide.

"As Congress mulls comprehensive immigration reform which includes the mandatory use of E‑Verify, error rates which otherwise appear impressive as a fraction of a percent, effectively mean that more than 1 million authorized U.S. workers may receive a TNC in the course of seeking employment," said Rabinowitz. "This represents an enormous burden on persons with the right to work to rectify and an enormous drain on U.S. businesses to have to track E‑Verify TNCs."

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