Think Government Is Intrusive Now? Wait Until E-Verify Kicks In

Wall Street Journal ^ | 08/03/2013 | John Cochrane

[SeekAndFind]

Massive border security and E-Verify are central provisions of the Senate immigration bill, and they are supported by many in the House. Both provisions signal how wrong-headed much of the immigration-reform effort has become.

E-Verify is the real monster. If this part of the bill passes, all employers will be forced to use the government-run, Web-based system that checks potential employees' immigration status. That means, every American will have to obtain the federal government's prior approval in order to earn a living.

E-Verify might seem harmless now, but missions always creep and bureaucracies expand. Suppose that someone convicted of viewing child pornography is found teaching. There's a media hoopla. The government has this pre-employment check system. Surely we should link E-Verify to the criminal records of pedophiles? And why not all criminal records? We don't want alcoholic airline pilots, disbarred doctors, fraudster bankers and so on sneaking through.

Next, E-Verify will be attractive as a way to enforce hundreds of other employment laws and regulations. In the age of big data, the government can easily E-Verify age, union membership, education, employment history, and whether you've paid income taxes and signed up for health insurance.

The members of licensed occupations will love such low-cost enforcement of their cartels: We can't let unlicensed manicurists prey on unsuspecting customers, can we? E-Verify them! And while the government screens employee applications, they can also check on employers' compliance with all sorts of regulations by looking at the job applications they submit for verification.

[Menehune56]

From the Open Borders crowd at WSJ.

[Vaduz]

E-Verify is a joke if it was used 30% of the people in California would be pot of a job.

[jimpick]

This is another communist agenda item. You will only be able to do the job the government says you are allowed to do.

[Tenacious 1]

I worked at a company that used E-Verify 3 years ago. This article seems to have it wrong (at least back then).

We simply had to enter a social security number into a Fed data base and check to see who it was linked to and if it matched the person we were hiring. If not, no job.

[knarf]

Basseh-baw would cease to exist except in old re-runs ... The Senate and The House would be depleted by at least a third ... the Presidency would be vacated along with its entire cabinet ... I could not buy a car, ‘cause I wouldn’t be allowed a license ... and a TON of et cetera’s

[sport]

Yep! What job you get, if any, will depend upon your political views, party affiliation , physical appearance, and who you screw[ engage with sex with] just like the old Communists system.

One of the last scandals in the former Soviet Union was that the political commissars of the submarine bases required sexual favors of the officer wives before they were allowed off base to visit their families while their husbands were at sea.

[Regulator]

It is just the whine of the cheap labor crowd.

But the criticism of such a system is valid. It is just more government control.

But this is where the modern “civil rights” movement has taken us.

If citizenship is now nothing more than a legal abstraction, and you can be prosecuted for not hiring a guy who doesn’t speak English or looks vaguely “foreign”, then how to comply with the employment laws?

Employers need an impartial third party to make the call.

[Standing Wolf]

[sincerity, average] Wouldn’t it be simpler if all legitimate citizens were to receive unique numbers tattooed inside their left forearms? Any law enforcement officer could tell who’s who and what’s what at a glance. [/sincerity]

[SeekAndFind]

RE: We simply had to enter a social security number into a Fed data base and check to see who it was linked to and if it matched the person we were hiring. If not, no job.

That would be the counter argument to this article, that is — IF eVerify were SIMPLY used like how you described it.

However, we know that government WILL always expand its mission into something else (which he just described in the article ).

As the author worries:

Soon, attending a meeting of a group that is a bit too enthusiastic about the Constitution or gun rights—or being arrested at an Occupy Wall Street rally—could well set off a “check this person” when he applies for a job. If the government can stop you from working, how can you be free to speak out in opposition?

It’s the need for prior permission rather than ex-post prosecution that makes E-Verify so dangerous. A simple delay in processing or resolving an “error” in your data is just as effective as outright denial, cheap to do, and easy to cover up.

Every tyranny silences opponents by controlling their ability to earn a living.

THEREIN LIES THE DANGER.

[freedomfiter2]

Exactly, employers who oppose this are probably crooks.

[Sherman Logan]

I have always believed there is an inherent conflict between conservative goal of keeping illegal aliens from working here, and their objecting to everybody having to carry government “papers.”

Accomplishing #1 pretty much requires implementing #2.

IMO.

[JCBreckenridge]

“That means, every American will have to obtain the federal government’s prior approval in order to earn a living.”

Fantastic article.

“That’s a nice little business you’ve got going on there. Shame if something were to happen.

“Hey you don’t have any SEIU members on staff. No hiring unless it’s SEIU.

[greene66]

Maybe there are some good things about E-Verify and maybe there are some bad things. All I know is that I don’t trust a single word on the topic coming from the duplicitous open-border scumbags at the WSJ.

[JCBreckenridge]

Yeah, just like folks who object to unreasonable search and seizure are probabaly crooks too.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

That needs to be repeated :

Every tyranny silences opponents by controlling their ability to earn a living.

THEREIN LIES THE DANGER!!

[DoughtyOne]

As an opponent of illegal immigration, it has been my contention that part of a crackdown would be a working verification system, so that employers could avoid hiring them.

We have stated that they shouldn't be able to get work or get services for free.  They should go home.  To that end, I see e-verify as a big help.

Without e-verify, all an employer has to say is there was no way for me to know.

So I guess the question is, do we want to end illegal immigration or not?  I do.

The Wall Street Journal has been humping the leg of illegal immigration for over a decade.  I long ago wrote them off when it comes to sane thought on protecting our nation.

On the one had we have 20 to 35 million illegals in the nation, and the government wants to legalize them ASAP.

On the other hand there is a tool that will help us to encourage them to go back home.

So which is it folks?  Do they stay and work?  Do they take your job or your neighbor's job?  Do they stay and our nation goes down forever, them voting as Democrats?

It's your choice.

Once again the powers that be have found a way to divide us.  And now folks who have sided with me for over a decade, can't pull the trigger when a tool is finally here.

I guess we deserve what we get.  It's why I just don't get worked up over it any longer.  We're conquered.  Deal with it...

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[Mr Rogers]

E-verify works fine. It isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t brand a 666 on your forehead, either. We use it in Arizona. Count on the WSJ to support cheap labor and foreign workers...

[Mr Rogers]

“However, we know that government WILL always expand its mission into something else (which he just described in the article ).”

Yes, and a speed limit law could be modified to require you to drive no more than 3 mph if heading to a church. The ‘government creep’ theory would prevent ALL laws.

So...why do YOU want to hire illegals?