Q&A of the Day – Would E-Verify be effective for Florida?
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry: E Verify is not that big of a deal....the big problem affecting me? Visa over stayers and illegals who come to So Flo and start companies. Somehow this is legal? They in turn hire illegals and don't do payroll. It has killed companies like mine.
Bottom Line: Without a doubt, if you’re competing in business with illegal operators, it’s unfair and certainly E-Verify wouldn’t solve your competitive problem. If you’re certain there are illegally operated businesses – you should report it/them to local and state authorities. If true, numerous federal and state laws would be violated. Additionally, under Florida’s new law banning sanctuary status, public officials who don’t enforce the law can face repercussions themselves. As for the validity of E-Verify, the reason it’s being pressed by Governor DeSantis as the next step after last year’s “Sanctuary” legislation, is because of its proven effectiveness.
The Department of Homeland Security records E-Verify data and tracks effectiveness. The most recent update was provided in October. Thus far they’ve analyzed 38.9 million E-Verify cases – safe to say a huge sample size. How effective do you think it’s been? What percentage of the time do you think E-Verify has proven effective and accurate? 99.77% of the time. That’s exceptionally effective. And by the scorecard there’s another story to be told. Out of the near 39 million E-Verified applicants...
- 98.5% are confirmed as legal within 24 hours (most instantly)
- 1.27% are found to lack status and denied employment
- 0.23% inconclusive and require human intervention to confirm status (often VISA issues are in play/resolved in these instances)
Put it altogether and it’s like this. E-Verify has proven to be exceptionally effective and efficient with a negligible error rate. Additionally, it’s prevented 500,000 plus illegal immigrants from employment ensuring 500,000 jobs went to lawful residents and citizens that wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s even aided tens of thousands of visa issues to be resolved/addressed. The only losers with E-Verify are businesses which are attempting to illegally suppress wages and avoid payroll taxes by employing illegal immigrants and the illegal immigrants themselves. And though I don’t have any stats to support this notion, you’ve got to imagine it’d discourage many illegal immigrants from coming here in the first place.