As Mississippi employers gear up to meet its legal obligations to verify employment under the Mississippi Employment Protection Act, the E-Verify system is coming under attack in Congress. 

A bill has been introduced in Congress that would require all employers in the United States to use the Social Security Administration's E-Verify system to verify employment of all individuals prior to employment.  Rep. Michael McNulty, D-New York, however, cautions that the Social Security Administration must not take on added immigration responsibilities while the agency is trying to reduce a huge backlog of disability claims.

Many believe that E-Verify is inefficient, prone to error and incapable of detecting identity fraud. The Society for Human Resource Management criticizes E-Verify for relying on the Social Security database, which has a 4.1 percent error rate and could mistakenly declare millions of people ineligible for employment.

Rep. Gabrielle Gifffords, D-Arizona, states that companies in her state have had bad experiences with E-Verify since the state Legislature mandated its use earlier this year.

Susan Fahey Desmond