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DON'T SPOIL THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE WITH E-VERIFY
DON'T SPOIL ECONOMIC RECOVERY WITH E-VERIFY
*E-VERIFY WILL BE HARMFUL TO MILLIONS OF WORKERS AND THE ECONOMY*
WHAT: The House version of the stimulus bill, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, approved an amendment that would require all businesses and other public or private "entities" that contract to receive money from the stimulus package to use the flawed federal Basic Pilot/E-Verify program. Now, the Senate is working on the stimulus bill. The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is strongly opposed to the inclusion of E-verify within it. We need your help to get the Senate to pass a plan for economic recovery that does not include the harmful E-verify provision.
WHY IS IT BAD: E-verify is an employment verification program run by both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-verify relies on the databases of these two agencies to check if an employee is eligible to work in the United States. Sounds good in theory. But the reality is that the information in these databases have many mistakes that could lead to millions of workers receiving Tentative Non Confirmations (TNCs) which are letters stating that your name and social security number does not match what the databases have on their records and ultimately, you could lose your job if the error is not corrected quickly.
You can e-mail or call your Senators directly by dialing the toll-free number 1-800-473-6711
- use the TALKING POINTS BELOW when leaving a message
Click here if the toll free number or your Senator's direct line is busy.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: PLEASE DON'T SPOIL ECONOMIC RECOVERY WITH E-VERIFY
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As an activist and a worker confronting these difficult economic times, I urge you to vote for an economic recovery bill that supports working families and oppose inclusion of the flawed E-verify program which will increase economic insecurity by putting the jobs of millions of workers in jeopardy.
We have serious economic problems and including E-verify in the stimulus package will only place an undue and disruptive burden on America's workers, industries large and small, and the economy as a whole.
E-verify is not an effective way to "weed-out" undocumented workers from the workforce because many of the errors in the databases belong to U.S. citizens and this could cause problems for workers who are erroneously considered unauthorized.
We need provisions in the stimulus package that will protect and create jobs, not increase the possibility for millions of workers to lose their ability to provide for themselves and their families.
I recognize that there are several provisions in the Senate plan that will generate the greatest benefit to our economy and will be helpful to working families and the country as a whole. E-verify is not one of them.
I urge you to prevent the inclusion of E-verify in a plan to provide economic recovery to this country's working families. Last year, a report by Westat evaluating the use of E-verify and the impact it had on workers was presented to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. The report found the following:
- Some employers were misusing E-verify to screen job applicants, which they are not allowed to do.
- Some employers failed to notify workers or job applicants of tentative non confirmation (TNC) findings which can prevent workers from correcting the error and keeping their jobs.
- Some employers took illegal action against workers that were working on getting the error cleared up with the appropriate agencies. Workers reported being discriminated against because their employers assumed they were undocumented, their pay was reduced, they were required to work longer hours or in poor working conditions.
- In some cases, employers discouraged workers from challenging the findings of the Tentative Non Confirmations (TNCs) resulting in workers unjustly losing their jobs.
- Staff was not properly trained on the use of E-verify increasing the chances of of violating E-verify procedures and the wrongful termination of workers without due process.
Ultimately, in these economic times we don't want workers to be denied work because of accidental errors in databases and we do not want undue burdens to be placed on businesses that are trying to survive through this crisis. This is why I oppose the inclusion of the flawed E-verify program in the economic recovery package and I urge you to do the same.
Sincerely,
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