Human Resource Experts Testify in Opposition to Mandated Use of 'E-Verify' in Kansas

Human Resource Experts Testify in Opposition to Mandated Use of 'E-Verify' in
Kansas

Support for Mandatory Federal Employment Verification System Advocated

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Representatives of the Society
for Human Resource Management and the HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce are
urging the Kansas State Legislature to resist efforts to mandate the use of
the federal employment verification system know as "E-Verify." In testimony
today before the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, Michael P.
Aitken, Director of Governmental Affairs at SHRM urged legislators to "reject
efforts to mandate the use of E-Verify, which is little more than an
inadequate quick-fix solution to a growing national problem."

Aitken's testimony follows similar testimony offered on February 26, 2008, by
SHRM Chief External Affairs Officer William J. Maroni, before the Kansas House
of Representatives Committee on Federal and State Affairs. "The proposed
Kansas law, when added to numerous other state and local ordinances aimed at
deterring illegal immigration, is likely to create a confusing and ineffective
patchwork of federal and state laws," Maroni stated.

Aitken and Maroni outlined the following problems with E-Verify:

-- E-Verify is not reliable. It uses the Social Security System database,
which has a 4.1 percent data error rate. If all U.S. employers were to use
the system, millions of U.S. citizens and legal residents could potentially be
denied employment due to bureaucratic errors.

-- E-Verify is unable to detect document fraud and identity theft, leaving
employers vulnerable to sanctions through no fault of their own.

-- E-Verify, also known as "Basic Pilot," was established by Congress as a
voluntary pilot program and is ill-equipped to handle a massive influx of
users. Moreover, the program is set to expire at the end of 2008.

As an alternative to myriad state and local laws aimed at illegal immigration,
SHRM and the HR Initiative have called for a mandatory national electronic
employment verification system as the only way to effectively prevent
unauthorized workers from obtaining jobs. Both organizations have endorsed
the "New Employee Verification Act," (H.R. 5515) as introduced on February 28,
2008 in the U.S. Congress. The bill would create a state-of-the-art
employment verification system that can protect the identities of American
citizens and give employers the tools they need to obtain fast, accurate
information about potential hires.

The HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce includes:

-- American Council on International Personnel

-- College and University Professional Association for Human Resources

-- Food Marketing Institute

-- HR Policy Association

-- International Public Management Association for Human Resources

-- National Association of Manufacturers

-- National Franchisee Association

-- National Association of Home Builders

-- Society for Human Resource Management

To view SHRM testimony and for more information on the New Employee
Verification Act, please visit http://www.legal-workforce.org.

The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce
(http://www.legal-workforce.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.

SOURCE Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce

Eric Thomas, +1-202-822-9491, for the Human Resource Initiative for a Legal
Workforce