Panel Urges U.S. Database to Verify Workers’ Status

The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform urged the Clinton Administration on Wednesday to establish an experimental program to verify worker eligibility through a computerized registry based on Social Security numbers.

The three-year pilot project would be set up in five states heavily affected by immigration, including California, and would seek to determine the best and fairest way to check a job applicant’s identity--whether through tamper-proof Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, a telephone verification system or other methods.

The program would rely on data provided by the Social Security Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The other states involved in the project would be Texas, Illinois, New York and Florida.

The recommendation immediately stirred up old debates over the threats to civil liberties such a national identification system might pose. Congress has considered workplace verification at least twice before but has backed away in the face of strong opposition from civil rights groups.

But as the immigration issue has come to a boil across the country, finding ways to deter the hiring of illegal immigrants has risen to new prominence. The bipartisan federal commission’s recommendation is certain to give the verification system plan an infusion of political respectability.

“It’s a very interesting proposal, one that we would like to look at closer when they have fleshed it out,” said Doris Meissner, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. “It is not inconsistent with efforts that we’re making to improve employer verification methods.”

The President has the power to create such a program under authority granted him in a 1986 immigration law, the commission said, but Congress probably would have to appropriate sizable funds to develop and support an effective data tracking system.

“We should stop talking about this issue and start testing some new approaches along this line,” said former Texas Democratic Rep. Barbara Jordan, chairwoman of the commission, which presented a preview of its upcoming report to the Senate subcommittee on immigration and refugee affairs.

“If (a) number goes into the registry and it shows up bogus, that is the answer. Can we enhance the credibility and integrity of the Social Security number? Maybe. Maybe not. But we need to find out,” Jordan said.

Civil liberty and minority groups immediately attacked the plan as being impractical, costly and inimical to the rights of Americans.

“A national registry system, even as a pilot project, is a ludicrous and unreasonable way to solve an immigration issue,” said Denyse Sabagh, an officer of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. “The commission would be better served . . . if it focused on more positive approaches to manage immigration.”

The National Council of La Raza, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Organization of Chinese Americans and the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council all registered their opposition to the idea.

“The test project is merely a launching pad for a national computer registry and a de facto ID card system,” said Lucas Guttentag, an immigration specialist for the American Civil Liberties Union. “A national ID card is an old idea and a bad one.”

Jordan, well-prepared for the civil libertarian opposition, departed from her prepared remarks to offer a “personal note.”

“I, as chair of this commission, would not be a party to any system that I felt was an unpardonable intrusion into the private lives of people. If I felt that what we are recommending would be such an intrusion I can assure you that recommendation would never have seen the light of day, not even as a pilot program.”

Jordan emphasized that the commission was proposing to add only one additional step to the existing work application procedure. All workers already must have a Social Security number and all employers must ask for it, she said. The commission is urging that a system be established to verify that the person to be hired actually has the Social Security number.

The pilot program would allow the five states to experiment with various techniques and procedures for tying in to the federal database. The commission would analyze the results and incorporate its findings into its final report, due in 1997.

Under current law, employers are required to obtain proof of citizenship or legal residency before hiring an employee. But the current system allows more than two dozen different documents to prove authenticity and is rife with counterfeit cards and fraud. Judiciary Committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) questioned the accuracy of the INS database.

“Isn’t it problematic to rely on a faulty database for verification of employment authorization?”

Jordan replied that it would not be if the government were willing to spend the money to improve it.

The verification plan was the most controversial recommendation of the nine-member commission, which was established by the Immigration Act of 1990. The group has been working two years on a comprehensive report to Congress on how the law is working and must deliver an interim report by Sept. 30. Jordan’s remarks Wednesday were a summary of the commission’s recommendations.

The commission also is urging the Border Patrol to rely on a policy of preventing illegal immigration, rather than trying to apprehend immigrants once they have entered the United States. The commission was impressed by the success of Operation Hold-the-Line, a experimental strategy employed in El Paso that deploys agents in saturation strength at the border. The commission also is considering a user fee for border-crossers to provide additional funds for border management.

On the issue of public benefits, the commission said illegal immigrants should be ineligible for any federally funded benefits, except for health or safety concerns such as immunizations and child nutrition programs.

But the commission recommended that legal immigrants continue to be eligible for assistance programs, based on need. The members strongly endorsed plans to ensure that sponsors become financially responsible for immigrants brought into the country.

In a recommendation of particular resonance to California, the commission endorsed a short-term authorization of financial aid to states most affected by the costs of illegal immigration. But the commission was careful to tie the aid to more reliable data from the states, and an agreement that states would not become dependent on the money and would cooperate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The reactions of the senators in the hearing room were positive, although Kennedy and Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), veterans of hard-won immigration legislation in 1986 and 1990, know that political consensus is hard to come by.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), whose immigration legislation incorporates some of the commission proposals, said she “agreed with virtually everything (Jordan) said.”

How It Would Work

In a proposal outlined Wednesday by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, five states including California would be part of a pilot project to determine the best way to tie into a federal database to verify the status of work applicants. The goal is to weed out illegal immigrants or those not authorized to work in this country. The current system is rife with fraud and counterfeit documents.

Under the proposal, when you apply for a job:

* An employer would ask for a Social Security number--just as before.

* But to verify that the applicant is actually the person who was issued that number, employers would query a federal database combining records from the Social Security Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

* The database would alert employers to applicants with multiple Social Security numbers, or numbers with multiple names.

* If an applicant is flagged, states in the pilot program might use new techniques to determine the worker’s authenticity. These experimental methods might include telephone verification--much like a credit card, counterfeit-resistant driver’s licenses or tamper-proof Social Security cards.

* After three years, if successful verification systems are developed, they would be adopted nationally.