Will President Joe Biden’s administration fix the mess at the U.S.-Mexico border?
Given the administration’s poor handling of the problem, it’s fair to say: probably not. Thankfully, the federal government is not the only entity that can enforce immigration laws and deter illegal immigration. States also have some options, including enacting mandatory E-Verify in the public and private sectors.
E-Verify is a free-to-use service run by the Department of Homeland Security. It exists to ensure that businesses hire only those who can legally work in the United States. Although it’s an imperfect system, it’s an improvement over the status quo and something states should implement. Unfortunately, only eight states have mandatory E-Verify in the private sector. It’s hard to imagine blue states passing this into law, but since most red states don’t yet have it in place, they can and should take this action to help deter illegal immigration.
If states want to reduce illegal immigration, they should look at the factors motivating people to live here illegally. One of those incentives is work opportunities. About half of illegal immigrants remain here because of visa overstays. So while heightened border security can deter illegal crossings, it won’t help deal with the people who entered the country legally.
E-Verify claims to be more than 97% effective in identifying whether or not people can legally work in the country. It also says that it can correct mistakes if an error occurs. Even the libertarian Cato Institute, which is critical of E-Verify, admitted the system is moderately effective. It noted that E-Verify prevented about 3 million illegal hires between 2006 and 2018 but said it only stopped 20% of attempted illegal immigrant hires in that span. Still, 3 million is better than zero.
Although critics say illegal immigrants can work their way around the E-Verify system by committing identity fraud, that’s no reason to end the program. It’s an incentive to crack down on criminal aliens who do not belong in this country. Generally, enacting E-Verify reduces the total number of illegal immigrants who stay in a state by about 10%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Plus, the system may improve in the future thanks to the nationwide implementation of Real ID. States that issue illegal immigrants IDs cannot issue them Real ID-compliant IDs, and Real ID licenses are more difficult to forge than a standard driver’s license.
While little reason exists to believe the Biden administration will curb illegal immigration any time soon, states can and should use that authority.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.
