Testimony for the Record Before the
U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
Subcommittee on Management, Organization and Procurement, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
July 23, 2009
10:00 AM
Room 2154 Rayburn
I am currently the Director of National Security Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies and a former counsel to the 9/11 Commission, where I co-authored the monograph 9/11 and Terrorist Travel alongside recommendations that appear in the 9/11 Final Report1. Prior to 9/11, I was counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology and Terrorism where I specialized in foreign terrorist activity in the United States and worked to pass the federal criminal and redress system in place today for identity theft. Today I focus on issues pertaining to border and identity security and its nexus to national security issues. In September I released an extensive report on E-Verify, and this past March a statistical analysis regarding current use of E-Verify. These two reports will be the focus of this testimony, alongside some basic facts in regard to how border issues affect national security. I have testified before the U.S. Congress ten times, and I am privileged to submit my testimony to the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Management today.
Background
Current federal law prohibits an employer from knowingly hiring an unauthorized alien. Employers who use the federal program E-Verify in good faith, however, are able to use enrollment in E-Verify as an affirmative defense against federal law enforcement action for the hiring of unauthorized workers. A rule simply requiring federal contractors to use E-Verify – considering their contracts are paid with taxpayer dollars and often have access to critical infrastructures—is simple common sense. Federal policies that encourage employers to sign-up and use E-Verify align federal responsibility for enforcing our immigration laws with a rising tide of state laws that require use of E-Verify under defined circumstances. E-Verify further enables the federal government to more closely determine bad actor employers who knowingly, and repeatedly, hire unauthorized workers.
Mission statement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
E-Verify is currently the best means available for employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. E-Verify virtually eliminates Social Security mismatch letters, improves the accuracy of wage and tax reporting, protects jobs for authorized U.S. workers, and helps U.S. employers maintain a legal workforce.2
In a report I released in September 2008, If It''''s Fixed, Don''''t Break It:
http://cis.org/Testimony/E-Verify-ChallengesAndOpportunities
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