PHOENIX, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Arizona's push to get all employers to use the E-verify system to ensure they do not hire illegal immigrants has had mixed success, officials say.
Christy Hubbard, a lawyer with the Phoenix firm of Lewis & Roca, told The Arizona Republic it is impossible "to completely, 100 percent, prevent workers who are not authorized to work in the United States from being on the payroll."
"The reason why is that people have documents that make them look like they are authorized to work," Hubbard said.
While E-verify will quickly unmask those who simply make up Social Security numbers or use numbers that do not go with the name they use, it can be slower when people use stolen numbers or borrow them from friends or relatives. There is often a long delay in detecting identity theft.
The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which took effect more than two years ago, requires all employers to use E-verify. But apparently, only one-third of them do, the newspaper said.
Some large companies may be using E-verify but not showing up on the record in Arizona because their human resources departments are out of state. Smaller employers, experts say, have simply not signed on.
