Congressmen ask USCIS to create new review process allowing workers to contest employment ineligibility declarations
On Tuesday, May 1, 39 Democratic House members sent a letter to the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asking him to create a review process that would allow workers to challenge erroneous final declarations of employment ineligibility issued under the federal E-Verify program. The representatives took issue with a “seriously flawed program” that deprives citizens of the ability “of challenging a final declaration of ineligibility to hold employment.”
In their letter, the congressmen ask USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas to allow workers to contest E-Verify’s erroneous final nonconfirmations (FNCs) through a “simple, transparent review process.” The representatives contend that as many as 85,000 citizens and lawful immigrants may have lost their jobs last year because of E-Verify. Thus, according to the representatives, E-Verify has become “simply another example of why our immigration system is so badly broken.”
House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) does not share the concerns expressed in the letter. Earlier this year, he announced his support for legislation that would make the program mandatory for every employer in the nation.