Basic Pilot Program

It all started back in 1986 when the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 came about and it required employers to examine documentation from each newly hired employee to prove their identity and eligibility to work in the United States of America. Through this act, the Form I-9 that many of us may be used to today was created to ensure that all documents to prove work eligibility in the United States were authentic. Moving forward 10 years, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 made it a requirement for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to have three pilot programs that would potentially help find the best way to verify an employee’s employment verification which were:

the Basic Pilot, the Citizen Attestation Pilot, and the Machine-Readable Document Pilot.
From 1997 to roughly 2007, a series of voluntary Basic Pilot programs were launched and they allowed employers to confirm the work eligibility of newly hired employees. To start, the INS and the Social Security Administration (SSA) introduced the first Basic Pilot Program in 1997 to six states; California, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, and Texas. The way this program worked was that they would take employee’s information from their I-9 forms and compare it to any information stored within the INS and SSA databases. If an employer wanted to verify any information with SSA, they would have to make a phone call. After this process was complete, the employer would then enter the I-9 information into a computer program and it would send all the data to the INS database through a modem connection. Luckily, in 1998 the Basic Pilot Program received an update and employers no longer had to call SSA for verification. Instead, employers were now able to complete the entire verification process for the INS and SSA through the computer program at the same time while still using the modem connection. A year later in 1999, a new Basic Pilot program was created called the Designated Agent Basic Pilot Program and this allowed employers to contact a third party agent who could confirm the work eligibility of their new hire.
Once we reached the new millennium, in 2001 the Basic Pilot Program was reauthorized and extended by Congress until 2003.

At this point in time, the program had reached 1,064 employers and there were 559,815 reported cases. Fast forward to 2004, and it has been a year since Congress extended the life of the Basic Pilot Program until November 2008, and a new web-based access method was put into and it allowed people to access the program through any computer with internet, and it also included online enrollment, reporting capability, and 23 hours access. At this time, there was an enrollment of 3,478 employers and 757, 342 reported cases. In 2006 North Carolina passed the SB 1523 which required all state agencies, offices, and universities to use E-Verify which applied to all employees hired after January 1, 2007 but for local education agencies it did not go into effect until March 1, 2007. Three years after the extension of the program, in 2007 the Basic Pilot Program experienced greater improvements and was officially renamed E-Verify. Once the program was renamed, the additional features that were added were an automatic flagging system that double-checks data that was entered and it helped reduce data entry errors and mismatches by up to 30%, and photo matching was also added. For the 2007 record, 24,463 employers were enrolled and there were 3,271,871 reported cases. On June 6, 2008, President George W. Bush amended Executive Order 12989 requiring all federal contractors to verify eligibility employment of new hires using the E-Verify system which was scheduled to be in effect by January 15, 2009 but due to a lawsuit filed by multiple parties, the order was not official until September 8,

2009.
Between 2011 and 2015, E-Verify has grown tremendously. In 2011, the RIDE program, also known as the Records and Information from DMVs for E-Verify which allowed states to validate driver’s licenses as I-9 form identity documents and the E-Verify Self Check system which allows individuals to check their own employment eligibility in the United States becomes nationwide. North Carolina also passes HB 36 in 2011 where they mandated that counties, cities, and private employers with 25 employees or more had to use E-Verify but that law does not apply to anyone who is a seasonal hire. In 2012, the E-Verify program is extended by Congress until September 2015, Florida joins the RIDE program, and employee rights toolkits are created to supply workers with information on their rights and anti-discrimination provisions throughout the I-9 and E-Verify processes. Thankfully, on November 18, 2013, the E-Verify program comes up with a way to lock Social Security numbers that could be suspected of fraud in the E-Verify system. Recently, in the past two years, E-Verify came out with myE-Verify on October, 2014 allowing employees to use both Self Check and manage other tasks in terms of E-Verify to five states: Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Mississippi, and Virginia, as well as Washington D.C. and on April 15, 2015 myE-Verify became available to everyone nationwide.
In recent news, in April 2015, House Bill 318 otherwise known as the Protect North Carolina Workers Act to lower the threshold for businesses who have to use E-Verify from 25 employees or more down to those with 5 employees or more in order to increase the number of employers who are required to participate in E-Verify. The sponsor of the bill, George Cleveland reported that the change would be able to bring over 110,000 North Carolina businesses into the E-Verify system. The bill had passed its second reading in the House by a vote of 80-39 and was well on its way to the state Senate in hopes of being approved so that it could be signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. In the article, Cleveland stated that they have allowed a huge illegal population into the state and that they’ve taken employment from their citizens and lowered the wages due to the amount of illegals working in NC. The lawmakers in North Carolina claimed that the bill came about in an effort to make sure that employers were complying with the federal laws related to hiring undocumented workers. Of course, the bill had those who opposed it, mainly the state’s Chamber of Commerce and their Democratic representatives due to the fact that they felt as though the bill would put a burden on the small businesses in the state. Unfortunately, the bill would also be disallowing documents that are issued by foreign consulates otherwise known as consular cards for being used as a form of verification since a lot of people would have multiple cards with different identities and names, yet they had the same picture.
In another article posted on October 2, 2015, it focuses a lot on the fact that immigrants will no longer be able to use their consular cards as a form of identification if House Bill 318 is passed which lead one UNC-Chapel Hill student’s fears of deportation resurface. Chapel Hill student Rubi Franco Quiroz, felt as though the new law would have a major impact on her family despite them living in America for 13 years and despite her and her brother being partially protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). According to Ron Woodard, he felt as though cities such as Chapel Hill and Carrboro did not like to obey federal law and that they want to protect those that have illegally crossed the border. Woodard also believed that the passing of the bill was a great way to help American citizens who have lost their jobs to illegal immigrants. But as usual, there was an opposition from Reverend Curtis Gatewood who believed that the government should pay livable wages to both documented and undocumented workers since technically, they are the ones employing these people that they are trying to bring down. Due to the House Bill 318 trying to be put into play, UNC and community immigration groups came together at a place called the Pit to protest the bill due to its racial profiling. According to Quiroz, the student from Chapel Hill, she felt as though this bill would only continue to worsen the racial profiling that currently exists in North Carolina.
On October 20, 2015 an article was published saying that on September 29, 2015 House Bill 318 had officially been ratified and it was now up to Governor Pat McCrory to sign the bill, or not by October 30, 2015 and if he did nothing it would be passed on to the Secretary of the State Elaine Marshall and thus, become law. The article outlines seven of the legal forms of official identification which are as follows: 1) a pay stub with the payee’s address, 2) a utility bill with an address, 3) a contract for an apartment, house, etc. with a North Carolina address that is signed by the applicant, 4) a receipt for personal property taxes, 5) a receipt for real property taxes paid to an NC locality, 6) a current automobile insurance policy issued, and lastly 7) a monthly or quarterly financial statement from a NC regulated financial institution. If workers were found and did not have any of the previous forms of identification then they would reported to law enforcement or the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). HB 318 is also reported to prohibit law enforcement agencies from creating any exceptions to accepting documentation that is not listed and it prohibits waivers for time-limited food assistance which would have a large impact on those who are unemployed with no dependents and restrict their access to food stamps.
Speaking of which, in the latest article on E-Verify in North Carolina, it actually takes place here in Greensboro. On October 28, 2015 over 100 people came together to protest House Bill 318 which community leaders say will technically destroy the lives of not only undocumented immigrants, but those people living in poverty throughout North Carolina as well. One resident, Michelle Kennedy who is the executive director of the Interactive Resource Center in Greensboro believes that the house bill is a disgrace towards those in poverty who are trying to make a living for themselves. Others believe that doing away with identification cards is only hurting the immigrants in North Carolina who are unable to obtain a driver’s license or state ID. In relation to the limit on food stamps for single people, Greensboro City Councilwoman, Marikay Abuzuaiter questions how people are supposed to look for jobs if they are going hungry, and then of course the is the opposition, Ricky Diaz who feels as though the bill is just a way for North Carolina’s economy to work its way back up and help get people out of unemployment and into jobs. The simple fact that E-Verify seems like it is a great program to have is honestly blurred due to the fact that yes, it may help to better narrow down who is eligible to work in the United States, but, even though it appears to be helping one sector, it is literally tearing apart at immigrants who have been in the United States for so long, as well as those who may not be immigrants but instead are individuals living in poverty who are still being held back from potentially having a better life.
Although E-Verify is a voluntary program, there are states who are trying to make it a mandatory way of checking for employment eligibility and even with that, plenty of problems tend to arise with the process. In 2013, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had announced their largest immigration-related violation fine against Infosys Limited (INFY). Unfortunately, for the company they had been under investigation since May 2011 due to a subpoena they had gotten related to their B-1 visa practices. In relation to I-9 and E-Verify, Infosys had undergone their investigation by ICE and, the DOJ reported that according to their audit, they failed to maintain I-9 records for their foreign nationals in the United States in 2010 and 2011 as required by the law and although they started using E-Verify in 2011, their audit also showed that over 80 percent of the I-9 forms Infosys had for 2010 and 2011, carried plenty of violations. These violations resulted in a settlement of $34 million in where $5 million would go to Homeland Security Investigation, $5 million would go to the Department of State, and the remaining $24 million would go to the Department of Justice. Essentially, it is pretty sad to know that companies are not complying with I-9 or E-Verify laws and regulations, but if they just did what they were supposed to do, business would be able to run a lot smoother.
It seems to me that E-Verify is still a work in progress, and it could either potentially work out for the best if they tweak a few things, but then again it could just happen to fail and they government may have to come up with a new way of seeing who is eligible to work in the United States and who is not. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the future of E-Verify has its ups and downs but employers will essentially have to assess if they want to use E-Verify in the future or not. Of course there are the pros and cons of using E-Verify. A few from SHRM would be as follows: E-Verify provides employers with rapid assurance of employee work authorization, it provides a clear process for employers to follow when questions come up in regards to employee authenticity, and if an employer receives a Form I-9 audit, E-Verify is there to act as a demonstration of good faith. On the not so bright side, E-Verify is an open system and one error during input could trigger a tentative nonconfirmation (TNC) which could result in extra work having to be put in to fix it, some people believe that E-Verify could potentially become a screening for ICE to trigger audits instead of its original use of employment eligibility, and employers must consider accidental misuse or inappropriate use of the system so that they do not end up in legal turmoil.
Overall, we will just have to see how E-Verify plays out over the course of the next few years and only hope for the best. Since we do live in a technologically advanced world, there are so many ways that the program could prosper but there are also so many ways that the program could end up not working out and it could introduce a whole new world of fraud, identity theft and could even become a breeding place for hackers to make money off of people who want to come to America to make a better living for themselves. In my opinion, I hope that E-Verify works out and any kinks are fixed in due time because it seems like a really great idea, but it should definitely focus on helping people find jobs and motivate others to obtain citizenship in the United States even though it is not an easy process whatsoever.