Smith Bill to Save Jobs for American Workers Passes the Judiciary Committee

E-Verify is easy to use and liked by the American people. Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. The Legal Workforce Act saves jobs for American workers at a time when nearly 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Meanwhile seven million people are working in the United States illegally said Cong. Lamar Smith author of the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 3711) that requires U.S. employers to check the work eligibility of all new hires through the E-Verify system. Congressman Smiths bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. Smith has a long-standing interest in E-Verifys success since his 1996 immigration bill was signed into law and created the pilot for the verification system. Smith was joined in introducing the bill by coauthors House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-Calif.). The bill passed by a vote of 20-10.

Said Congressman Smith: By expanding the E-Verify system to all U.S. employers employers will check the work authorization of new employees to ensure that the jobs only go to Americans and legal workers.  E-Verify is easy to use and liked by the American people. A September 2017 Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 82 of voters favor requiring business owners to check the immigration status of employees they hire.  E-Verify receives the most public support of any proposed immigration reform. I thank Chairman Goodlatte and Congressman Calvert for their continued commitment to this legislation and to securing our border.

E-Verify which is operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) checks the social security numbers of newly hired employees against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to help ensure that they are genuinely eligible to work in the U.S. The program quickly confirms 99 of work-eligible employees and takes less than two minutes to use. Over 740000 American employers currently use E-Verify and 83 of Americas employerssupport a mandatory electronic verification system. In a short video Congressman Smith explains how to use E-Verify. Video of Congressman Smiths opening statement at the mark-up hearing for the Legal Workforce Act can be watched here. In September Rep. Smith held a press conference on announcing the introduction of this legislation and another bill he introduced the Immigration in the National Interest Act. Video of the press conference can be found here.