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Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, has strongly criticized the E-Verify system and proposes replacing it with a biometric-based federal employment verification system. As reported by Workforce Management, Schumer has called E-Verify “unfair” because it singles out individuals with Hispanic surnames and “ineffective” because unauthorized workers can slip through the system by using stolen Social Security numbers and fake IDs.
However, it is far from certain that Schumer’s plan to scrap E-Verify will succeed. The House recently approved a homeland security appropriations bill that includes a two-year reauthorization of E-Verify, and it also has approved redirecting $50 million of the DHS budget to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services for E-Verify enhancements.