Critics Say E-Verify System is 'Flawed'

PHOENIX - All Arizona businesses are required to use E-Verify under the employer sanctions law, which determines if a social security number exists. But some say the program is flawed.

The employer sanctions law, or the legal Arizona workers act, is the other immigration law Arizona was known for before SB 1070.

It puts pressure on business owners to be sure their workers are in the U.S. legally, and the Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit on it within the year.

Earlier Tuesday, Valley View Building Services, a Phoenix business that contracts out workers to clean construction sites and new structures, was the target of Sheriff Joe's raid. Several employees were arrested, suspected of being illegal immigrants.

But owner Joel Votaw says he used the E-Verify system before hiring the workers, and it's not his fault they used someone else's social security number.

"If somebody can find me a way of knowing for sure if someone is illegal, I'd be the first one to sign up, but we use the system that the government gives us and that's all we have," he says.

According to attorney David Selden, that system is seriously flawed. Selden represents the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations that have successfully gotten the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court will hear the case either this year or in early 2011. Under the law, a business owner can be prosecuted for knowingly hiring an undocumented person. But is it foolproof in catching illegal workers? Critics say no.

"The E-Verify system is still a pilot program. It's not accurate it's not ready for prime time," he says. "[Many business owners] do follow the law, they want to obey the law, they want everybody else to obey the law, so let's focus on the bad apple operators out there."

Even Sheriff Joe has admitted that E-Verify lets people slip through the cracks and says owners should do more.

"I just would hope that business owners would be more vigilant if there's any danger, any signs that these people are here illegally," says the Sheriff.

Votaw says, "I don't think that we can just fire people based on accusations and suspicions that they might be here illegally."

Selden says that E-Verify only catches about half of the illegal workers in the country. The more the law cracks down on fake IDs and fake social security numbers, the more often illegal immigrants will try to steal real people's identities.

First reported by MyFoxPhoenix