Electronic verification program verifies immigration status of employees

With a new E-Verify program that verifies immigration status, it will be tougher for illegal immigrants to find work in California, Contra Costa Times reports. More than 26,000 employers will implement the federal program which checks the background of immigrants. Some states mandate the use of E-Verify, however California passed a law in October prohibiting local legislature from forcing companies to use the electronic identification verification, the news source states. Businesses may run E-Verify programs through databases to avoid possible government audits and immigration raids that lead to fines and harm a business' reputability. However, many agricultural businesses in California would lose a substantial amount of their workforce if they enforced E-Verify. U.S. Representative Dan Lungren told the news source history has shown the agriculture business relies on foreign labor. "You're going to destroy agriculture in a very real sense," said Lungren. "I don't think I'm being an alarmist about that." Lungren is not full-heartedly opposed to E-Verify. He further added that he would support the program if Congress passed a sufficient guest-worker program that allowed illegal immigrants to at least work seasonally.