Testimony of Susan Mary Weishar, Ph D.

May 10, 2011

 

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important topic for the people of Louisiana. My name is Dr. Susan Weishar and I am a Research Fellow at the Jesuit Social Research Institute of Loyola University New Orleans. From 1991 to 2005 I directed the Immigration and Refugee Services Program at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. For ten years I chaired the Louisiana Refugee Advisory Council

 

In addressing HB 342 and the question of immigrant workers and their families in Louisiana, I would like to stress two points: first, the religious and moral framework for this consideration; and, second, the practical realities of immigration in Louisiana and the nation.

 

All the major religious traditions—Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, and others—all quote the same Scriptures and cite the same religious principles about immigration.   They begin with the scriptural mandate to welcome the stranger and to protect them from abuse and exploitation. One example is from the Book of Leviticus:

"The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

 

Leaders in the Judeo- Christian tradition have repeatedly called for comprehensive national immigration reform that would love the stranger as ourselves, protect our society, meet our economic needs, protect human dignity, replace illegality with legality, and fulfill our responsibilities for the common good.

 

HB 342 is one attempt to address parts of our nation’s immigration system, which all sides of the debate agree is badly broken, but it is not the right vehicle and does not address the need for overall reform, which only the federal government can enact.

 

The second important consideration for this committee and the legislature are the practical realities of worksite enforcement for workers, businesses, and the economic welfare of the State of Louisiana. E-verify remains vulnerable to identity fraud and employer misuse, and offers no ability to detect off-the-books employment. The system is also costly for workers, employers, and taxpayers. Please allow me to go into some of the problems of E-Verify in more detail.

 

 

Implementation of E-Verify for companies that do business with the state of Louisiana will encourage more workers to leave the formal economy and work in the unregulated, underground economy where employee abuse is rampant and taxes are not collected. This is already happening in Arizona, one of the few states that requires E-Verify for new hires[1]. Arizona took in about $371 million less in individual income-tax collections in the 9 months after the law was enacted in 2008 compared with the same period in the prior year, a drop of 13 percent, according to the state's Joint Legislative Budget Committee. However, sales-tax collections for some necessities did not fall as precipitously, dropping 2.5 percent for food and 6.8 percent for clothing. This suggests more workers are not paying income taxes but are still earning money to spend—in the underground economy[2].

 

 

When an employer receives a tentative non-confirmation (TNC) from E-verify, it means that the Department of Homeland Security cannot immediately confirm the work authorization of the worker and he/she must work out the error with the Social Security Administration (SSA) or the Department of Homeland Security. Employers are required to inform employees of a tentative non-confirmation, but according to a study sponsored by the DHS, 42% of workers who received a TNC were not informed about it, they simply were not hired[4].

 

If the company does inform the employee of a TNC, it can take the employee many hours or days of work and multiple trips to SSA to correction the error, and the company by law cannot dismiss the worker until the matter is cleared up or eight working days have passed, whichever comes first.

 

By law federal agencies and federal contractors and sub-contractors must participate in E-verify. In 2009 the TNC for E-verify was only 2.9% nation-wide, but the majority of users were large firms with sophisticated HR departments. Small businesses compose 95% of Louisiana’s business economy. Small businesses in Arizona reported that using E-Verify is difficult, particularly businesses that do not have dedicated HR staff. Enrolling in the system, taking the tutorial, and passing the necessary test takes precious time and may require costly computer upgrades.[5] In Arizona the most frequent concern was that TNCs were issued on work-authorized individuals, and at rates much higher than the national average. A company in Arizona that owns 24 fast-food restaurants testified in Congress that its TNC rate was 14%.[6]

E-verify can only determine if the Social Security or Alien Number of the holder is valid, it cannot detect if that information was stolen or borrowed. Let’s say I want to work for a company that does business for the State of Louisiana but I am not authorized to work in the U.S. All I need to do is obtain a driver’s license and Social Security card with the name and numbers of say, my work-authorized cousin, and then use those documents when I apply to work. DHS estimates that 54% of unauthorized workers that are checked through E-Verify are approved because they are used borrowed or stolen identity data[7]. Expansion of E-verify without comprehensive immigration reform will likely lead to a vast increase in identify fraud.

 

Also, E-Verify cannot detect when employers selectively use E-Verify. An employer could choose to not to use E-Verify for any potential employee who he/she thinks may be unauthorized to work in the U.S. E-Verify will put compliant employers at a competitive disadvantage.

 

The vast majority of undocumented immigrants to Louisiana, are good, hard working, family oriented, church going people who came here only to try and make a better life for themselves and their families through the sweat of their brows, like generations of immigrants before them. Instead of pursuing state laws that will hurt our state’s economy, our workers, and our businesses, we urge you to insist that our Congressional delegation work for a just and comprehensive resolution to our country’s broken immigration system that would enhance security, strengthen our economy, and create a path to earned legalization for the over 11 million undocumented currently residing in the U.S.—most of whom have lived here more than ten years[8], contribute substantially to the growth of our economy, and have strong community and family ties.

What is leading state leaders to propose such laws like HB 342 is obvious: our immigration system is completely incapable of balancing our nation’s need for labor and the supply of that labor. As one faith leader has observed, “We have built a huge fence along our southern border, and have posted in effect two signs next to each other. One reads, ‘No Trespassing”, and the other reads ‘Help Wanted.’ “…As part of comprehensive immigration reform-- which the leaders of all major faith traditions in this country support-- undocumented immigrants would have to make restitution by paying fines, as well as come up to date on income taxes, pass rigorous background checks, and learn English and U.S. history. Comprehensive immigration reform would also require that our borders remain secured, that fair and effective worksite enforcement be implemented, and that flexible legal limits be set on future immigration so that we never again find ourselves in the crisis that now confronts us. Reform efforts that include “enforcement only” measures, such as H.B. 342, will fail to make meaningful change because they fail to address the reality that millions of human beings, many with U.S. citizen children, will continue to live in the shadows of American society.

 

Thank you for this opportunity to speak briefly on this important matter. Please contact me at sweishar@loyno.edu or 504-864-7749 if you have any questions are require more information.

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