A bill calling for American businesses to check the immigration status of all employees is moving through Congress. It's called e-Verify, and Congressman Lamar Smith, who's on committees that oversee immigration issues, explains how it would work.
Rep. Lamar Smith: E-verify system where we check the status of individuals, whether they're eligible to work in the United States or not by simply checking their Social Security number to see if it's a legitimate. It's virtually free, it's easy, it's simple, it's 99 percent effective, probably the most effective of any government program we could possibly have. And it saves jobs for American citizens and for legal immigrants who are entitled to work in this country so we think it's a good system and very much needed.
Sharyl: E-verify is already available. What's the difference between employers being able to use the system now and what the bill calls for?
Rep. Lamar Smith: Well, right now about a third of all the workforce is under E-verify, and it's a voluntary program today. 1500 employers voluntarily sign up for it new every single week, and the bill simply requires all employers to use E-verify.
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