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ImmigrationProf Blog

Sunday, May 27, 2007

No jobs for US citizens without Homeland Security approval

Under the terms of the new immigration bill, US citizens will have to seek the approval of homeland security before they can be hired for any job, in addition all current employees will have to be recertified from DHS that they are eligible for employment in the US.

This is a bureaucratic nightmare in my opinion, one that will replicate the no-fly list only much much worse. The inevitable database glitches, red flags for legal citizens, procedures in challenging any mistakes could very well overwhelm the DHS's Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) and make it unworkable.

"EEVS would be a financial and bureaucratic nightmare for both businesses and workers," said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Under this already flawed program no one would be able to work in the U.S. without DHS approval - creating a ‘No Work List’ similar to the government’s ‘No Fly List.’ We need immigration reform, but not at this cost."

The act allocates US$400 million for the implementation of the EEVS, but the Congressional Budgeting Office estimates the system to cost in excess of a billion dollars.


Another minus for the proposed bill, hopefully this will be fixed before the bill becomes law.

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