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Arizona Mandates E-Verify(Basic Pilot)
A new Arizona law intended to eradicate the employment of illegal aliens in the state has employers scrambling to comply. The law sets tough new standards for worker verification, as well as penalties for hiring illegal workers.
Arizona's immigration law is the first state or local law that mandates that ALL businesses in the state participate in the government sponsored Basic Pilot program (now called E-Verify). This online system is designed to match Social Security numbers and names with government databases and to alert an employer if the information submitted does not match government records.
The E-Verify program is usually a voluntary compliance tool, and doubts have been raised as to the accuracy of the system, as well as its ability to handle large amounts of data submitted at once.
On top of E-Verify participation, the new law threatens companies that are repeat offenders in hiring illegal workers with the permanent loss of their business license.
Many Arizona employers, while expressing a desire to comply with the new law, also express doubts about the accuracy of the Basic Pilot program, as well as the potential difficulties involved with increased paperwork and the need for more expertise in handling no-match letters and other potential legal quagmires resulting from the program or from an attempt to defend themselves against "knowingly hiring" an illegal worker.
The law is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2008.