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Arizona E-Verify Law Proves Ineffective With Less Than Half Of Businesses Complying

Arizona E-Verify Law Proves Ineffective
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By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

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Dozens of immigrants, many of them Mexican citizens, listen to a briefing of sorts as they find out how difficult and dangerous it is to cross the border into the United States, at a well known immigrant shelter, as many are making tough decisions on whether to try their luck at trying to make it to the United States, by illegally crossing the border, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in Nogales, Mexico. The U.S. government has halted flights home for Mexicans caught entering the country illegally in the deadly summer heat of Arizona's deserts, a money-saving move that ends a seven-year experiment that cost taxpayers nearly $100 million.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney may have thought Arizona’s E-Verify law was a model for the nation, but the state’s businesses don’t seem to like it.

After five years on the books and a favorable decision on its constitutionality from the Supreme Court, less than half of Arizona’s businesses are complying with a state law requiring them to screen all new hires using the federal database known as E-Verify, Cronkite News Service reports.

While the figures indicate a low compliance rate, participation has risen in recent years. Some 43 percent of the state’s businesses have signed on to E-Verify, as required under the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2008. That figure marks an increase from 2010, when about one-third of businesses had registered for E-Verify, according to the Arizona Republic.

Small businesses are the least likely to run checks on applicants, with only 19 percent having registered, according to the Yuma Sun.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who served as Romney’s immigration adviser during the 2012 presidential campaign, helped write Arizona’s E-Verify law, according to Yahoo News. During a GOP primary debate in Mesa, Arizona, in February, Romney called the law a model for the country.

“You know, I think you see a model in Arizona,” Romney said during the debate. “They passed a law here that says -- that says that people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up on E-Verify.”

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Before You Go

Immigrant Detention
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FILE - This Jan. 11, 2012 file photo shows a man waiting to be processed at a Border Patrol detention center in Imperial Beach, Calif. With border crossings at a 40-year low, the U.S. Border Patrol announced a new strategy Tuesday, May 8, 2012 that targets repeat crossers and tries to find out why they keeping coming. For nearly two decades, the Border Patrol has relied on a strategy that blanketed heavily trafficked corridors for illegal immigrants with agents, pushing migrants to more remote areas where they would presumably be easier to capture and discouraged from trying again. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File) (credit:AP)
Gary Mead(02 of13)
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FILE -In a March 13, 2012 file photo, Gary Mead, executive associate director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations, stands at a new civil detention facility for low-risk detainees in Karnes City, Texas. The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever before, generating a lucrative business for the nation's largest prison companies. Mead said that the government has never studied if privatizing immigrant detention saves money. (AP Photo/Will Weissert, File) (credit:AP)
AP A TX USA Family Detention Center(03 of13)
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(credit:AP)
Gary Mead(04 of13)
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FILE -In a March 13, 2012 file photo, Gary Mead, executive associate director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations, speaks to reporters by a soccer field at a new civil detention facility for low-risk detainees in Karnes City, Texas, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever before, generating a lucrative business for the nation's largest prison companies. Mead said that the government has never studied if privatizing immigrant detention saves money. (AP Photo/Will Weissert, File) (credit:AP)
(05 of13)
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A hallway near the medical and dental clinics at a new civil detention facility for low-risk inmates in Karnes City, Texas, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Federal officials are holding up the new facility as the centerpiece of an initiative to treat those facing immigration violation charges more humanely after lawsuits filed in past years. (AP Photo/Will Weissert) (credit:AP)
(06 of13)
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A guard holds open a door to the barber shop at a new civil detention facility for low-risk inmates in Karnes City, Texas, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Federal officials are holding up the new facility as the centerpiece of an initiative to treat those facing immigration violation charges more humanely after lawsuits filed in past years. (AP Photo/Will Weissert) (credit:AP)
(07 of13)
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A guard walks by rooms at a new civil detention facility for low-risk inmates in Karnes City, Texas, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Federal officials are holding up the new facility as the centerpiece of an initiative to treat those facing immigration violation charges more humanely after lawsuits filed in past years. (AP Photo/Will Weissert) (credit:AP)
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FILE - TO GO WITH INMIGRANTE DETENCION - In this Dec. 17, 2011 file photo, Tara Ammons Cohen reads with her son, Gavin, about a family friend in the local newspaper. Ammons Cohen was arrested in October 2008 on a drug charge and spent nearly three years locked up at the federal immigration detention center in Tacoma. She can (credit:AP)
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Advocates opposed to a planned New Jersey immigrant detention center gather at Military Park in Newark, N.J., prior to marching to the Essex County Freeholders meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. A contract to enlarge an existing facility was canceled earlier this year after questioned were raised as to why a politically connected company was the sole bidder. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (credit:AP)
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Advocates opposed to a planned New Jersey immigrant detention center gather at Military Park in Newark, N.J., prior to marching to the Essex County Freeholders meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. A contract to enlarge an existing facility was canceled earlier this year after questioned were raised as to why a politically connected company was the sole bidder. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (credit:AP)
Ryann Greenberg, Ava Greenberg(11 of13)
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In this photo taken Tuesday, July 26, 2011, Ryann Greenberg, left, stands with her daughter Ava, 2, in their back yard as she points to land in the distance where a proposed detention center would be built in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Town leaders in nearby Southwest Ranches have plans to build a 1,500-bed detention center facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A growing group of residents from Southwest Ranches and neighboring cities are seeking to halt the effort. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (credit:AP)
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In this photo taken Tuesday, July 26, 2011, a sign is posted at the site for a proposed detention center to be built in Southwest Ranches, Fla. Town leaders in this upscale rural enclave have plans to build a 1,500-bed detention center facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A growing group of residents from Southwest Ranches and neighboring cities are seeking to halt the effort. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (credit:AP)
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*In this photo taken Tuesday, July 26, 2011, horses graze at the Blue Heron Ranch in Southwest Ranches, Fla. Town leaders in this upscale rural enclave have plans to build a 1,500-bed detention center facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A growing group of residents from Southwest Ranches and neighboring cities are seeking to halt the effort. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (credit:AP)
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