Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, IMMIGRATION NEWS—House Education and Workforce hearing on E-Verify considers impact of nationwide mandate, (Nov 20, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

Witnesses highlighted the use of identity theft in the E-Verify program and provided suggestions for improving the system’s accuracy.

In a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Workforce, witnesses from the construction and home building industries discussed their experiences with the E-Verify program, which assists employers in verifying individuals’ legal eligibility to work in the U.S. The witnesses also provided their recommendations for improvements to the E-Verify system and for any potential nationwide E-Verify requirements.

E-Verify. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), chairman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, opened the hearing stating that E-Verify “helps to provide a level playing field who play by the rules[.]” Through E-Verify, an employer can verify a worker’s employment authorization electronically in a matter of seconds through the Social Security Administration database and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employment authorization database. If the employer receives a result that a worker is not authorized, the employer informs the worker, who has 10 days to resolve the discrepancy.

Use of E-Verify is voluntary for most employers, and, when relying in good faith on the information provided through the E-Verify system, an employer has no civil or criminal liability. Federal government contractors, except those with small-dollar and short-term contracts, are required to use E-Verify under federal regulation. Mackenzie stated that he introduced H.R. 2641, the Day 1, Dollar 1 E-Verify Act, which would codify a requirement that all federal contractors use E-Verify.

Compliance assistance, career training. Jamie Andress, vice president and chief human resources officer with Caddell Construction, testifying on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America, testified that her company uses E-Verify on every hire for U.S. projects, beyond what is required by federal law, with ethics and protection of American jobs in mind. Andress suggested improvements to the system, including improvements to the system’s accuracy, provision of further compliance assistance, providing notification of change in authorization status, and consistency in federal standards.

Andress also testified that supporting apprenticeships, mentorships, and on-the-job training can help those “who don’t know much about construction but would be a great fit for the industry to be able to explore their own sills and their own strengths and be able to bring that into the industry.” As an example, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) cited Workforce Pell, which was signed into law in July and provides short-term job-training Pell Grants to help workers quickly gain career skills.

Employer-employee relationship, access for small businesses.Christopher Gamvroulas, president of Ivory Development, testified on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders, stating that his company uses E-Verify to ensure that it only employs individuals authorized to work in the U.S., in compliance with Utah state law and federal guidelines. Gamvroulas recommended that an E-Verify mandate continue to focus on the direct employer-employee relationship, with any new E-Verify mandate remaining consistent with current law regarding independent contractors. Further, Gamvroulas suggested that any mandatory E-Verify program contain a safe harbor provision for employers to ensure that those who use the system in good faith will not be held liable by the federal government for errors in the E-Verify system, given concerns regarding identity theft, and that E-Verify allow employers to begin the worker verification process as soon as possible in the hiring process.

If a national program were adopted, Gamvroulas recommended that the system be workable for all U.S. employers, including small businesses, with telephonic access to the system available, given some businesses’ lack of reliable high-speed internet or technology to access the internet from a jobsite. Finally, Gamvroulas emphasized the need for a strong preemption clause in any nationwide E-Verify mandate, to prevent state and local governments from creating and enforcing their own verification requirements for employers and to simplify compliance for employers.

Opposition to national mandate.Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) stated that the NILC strongly opposes any expansion of E-Verify absent comprehensive immigration reform and robust worker protections, saying that the program remains deeply flawed and is “ineffective and harmful to workers and employers alike.” Hahn said, “It does not prevent unauthorized employment, pushes workers off payrolls and into the informal economy, and creates significant burdens for lawful workers and businesses.”

Given the error rates of the E-Verify program, if E-Verify were mandated nationwide, between 193,000 and 521,000 authorized workers, including citizens and lawful permanent residents, would face the burden of correcting government records or risk losing their jobs, Hahn testified, placing burdens on workers who have done nothing wrong. Further, E-Verify lacks an appeal mechanism for workers who receive an erroneous final nonconfirmation. Employers can also weaponize E-Verify to coerce or retaliate against workers engaged in protected activity, and there are no meaningful mechanisms at DHS to hold accountable employers who misuse or abuse E-Verify.

Imposing E-Verify mandates without enacting legislation measures will push immigrant workers into the informal economy, driving down labor standards and tax revenue. Further, small employers, who are currently the least likely to be enrolled in E-Verify, will carry the greatest administrative burden under a new E-Verify mandate. Hahn stressed that an E-Verify mandate should not be pursued without a legal pathway for workers, strong worker protections, mandated transparency regarding errors and abuse, and correction of the system’s current errors before enacting such a mandate.

Identity theft protections. Rosemary Jenks, cofounder and policy director for the Immigration Accountability Project, argued that E-Verify should be made mandatory for all employers in the U.S. to deter illegal immigration. Voluntary use of E-Verify creates an uneven playing field for businesses, she argued, stating, “Abiding by the law should not be a competitive disadvantage.” She recommended that states be required to share driver’s license data, including photos, with USCIS for inclusion in E-Verify, to reduce false positives due to identity theft. Finally, she recommended that, when identity theft is discovered through E-Verify, the Social Security Administration be required to notify victims, block further use of the Social Security Number (SSN) used, and establish who the legitimate owner of the SSN is.

Companies: Caddell Construction; Ivory Development; National Immigration Law Center; Immigration Accountability Project; Associated General Contractors of America; National Association of Home Builders

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