HR Initiative Praises Senator Schumer's Initiative to Improve Employment Verification

Washington, D.C. – The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (HR Initiative) applauded Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) for spearheading the drive in the U.S. Senate to replace E-Verify with “a tough, fair, and effective employment verification system…”

At a July 21 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Chairman Schumer stated:

“In the past, our employment verification laws have placed employers between a rock and a hard place. Employers have been required to make subjective determinations about identity documents provided by employees in order to determine whether the employee is legally able to work in the United States…Attempts in the past to create employment verifications systems have been half-hearted and flawed.  The current E-Verify system is an example of a half-hearted and flawed system.”

The HR Initiative is encouraged that Senator Schumer is supportive of developing a biometric component for verification to prevent document fraud and identity theft – problems that plague E-Verify.

“Simply put, it is not difficult for illegal workers to scam the [E-Verify] system by providing the personal information of a legal worker,” Schumer stated.

“We commend Senator Schumer for his vision and leadership – and for providing a much-needed spotlight on the problems with E-Verify,” said Mike Aitken, Director of Government Affairs, Society for Human Resource Management.  “The HR Initiative has previously endorsed a voluntary use of biometrics as embodied in H.R. 2028, the ‘New Employment Verification Act,’ and will support similar measures in the Senate.”

To view a copy of the hearing statements of both Senator Schumer and the HR Initiative, visit www.legal-workforce.org.

The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (http://www.legalworkforce.org) represents human resource professionals in thousands of small and large U.S. employers representing every sector of the American economy.  The HR Initiative and its members are seeking to improve the current process of employment verification by creating a secure, efficient and reliable system that will ensure a legal workforce and help prevent unauthorized employment, a root cause of illegal immigration.