4. The Power of E-Verify
According to E-Verify’s website, “E-verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.” This system is basically to determine the eligibility of a candidate to work in the United States. In 2011, there was a law in California that prevented employers from accessing the E-Verify system. Another policy in 2015 barred employers from using the system to check employees’ status (current or prospective). As would any system, there were criticisms as well as supports. Some criticized the system as a violation of privacy.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a paper that was published that the system has made the government intrusive on everyone’s daily life and could hurt people. They continued that E-verify could hinder about a hundred of thousand people from getting employed. They also said that the system’s information could create serious security risks if entered into the wrong hands.
However, another organization focused on the reduction of immigration agreed with the use of the E-Verify system. They wrote that the system would protect employers from employing illegal citizens of the state. They also wrote that businesses that use the system would create a fair game where all the workers are from the same country with minimal competition within workers from other countries.
5. The Sanctuary could help
There are some bodies of authority; (these could include states, cities, and even countries), that have adopted policies (informal or formal) that disagree with the federal immigration laws. They prohibit and restrict the cooperation of the police with the efforts of federal immigration enforcement. These authorities and jurisdictions are known as sanctuary jurisdictions. Some example of these policies includes the limitation of information that is to be shared with the authorities of the federal immigration, prohibition of law enforcement investigations into the immigration status of people, or prevention of local authorities from arresting those that violate the federal immigration rules.
Even though some states or cities address themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, there are some factors in place that can disagree with it. The Centre for Immigration Studies (CIS) tracks and record which states stand as sanctuary jurisdictions. And according to the CIS in October 2016, the whole state of California was a Sanctuary jurisdiction. The following counties were also listed as sanctuary jurisdictions: Sonoma, Napa, Sacramento, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and so much more.
Some views are against the effect of sanctuary policies. The CIS calls it a ‘significant safety problem of the public in the country’. But on another hand, some persons such as Michael Pearson (who writes for CNN in 2016), agree with its existence. He encourages the policy because, in his view, they foster immigrants to live together without being afraid of deportation.
6. Impact on the Government
A non-profit organization whose aim is to reduce immigration in the United State published a paper that reviewed the financial impact of illegal immigration on the economy’s budget (state, federal and local). According to them, the government spent close to thirty billion dollars on the provision of services for unlawfully immigrant residents in 2010.
In that same year, they recorded expenses of close to ninety billion dollars from the state and the local government. The services provided to these set of individuals ranged from education (kindergarten to the university) to health, to criminal justice services. Then they concluded that the tax collected was not up to the expenses that were recorded.
Also, another organization (the Cato Institute) researched how undocumented immigrants affect the financial status of the economy. They concluded that the results were very close to zero. However, they added that though the financial effects are negative, the economy has a lot to gain from immigration.
One other institute focused on the tax policy issues at both the local, state, and federal levels also had an input on the matters of immigration. In 2016, they reported that undocumented immigrant residents pay a lot of money (entering into ten digits) every year into both local and state taxes. They added that the economy could earn even more from tax contributions if these immigrants could be registered as legal citizens.
Neda Zaman Esq.
Immigration Attorney in Encino, Los Angeles
Services in English Farsi, Arabic, Armenian, Turkish
Address; 16633 Ventura Blvd suite 510, Encino, CA 91436
Phone: +1(310)855-0992 | +1(818)290-3625
Email: NEDA@NEDALAW.COM