USCIS Data Shows that 3.2% of Employers Using E-Verify; H.R. 2164 Would Require 100%
A new report from the Migration Policy Institute found that only 3.2% of the nation's employers are currently enrolled in E-Verify. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's mandatory E-Verify bill, Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2164), would require 100% of employers to use E-Verify within two years.
Of the three states that have passed mandatory E-Verify laws and have been completely phased in -- Arizona, South Carolina, and Mississippi -- only 15% of the businesses in the three states were enrolled in E-Verify as of January 2011.
Arizona leads the nation with nearly 36,000 businesses using E-Verify, which equates to 25.7% of the state's total employers. Missouri, which requires state agencies to use E-Verify and also suspends the business licenses of companies that are found to knowingly hire illegal aliens, ranks second in the nation with 14.5% of employers using E-Verify.
South Carolina has 6.8% of employers using E-Verify despite its statewide mandate, and Mississippi has 6.5% of employers using E-Verify despite its statewide mandate.
Missouri has 22,061 employers using E-Verify followed by California (20,800), Georgia (18,166), and Texas (13,419).
Chairman Smith's E-Verify bill, H.R. 2164, would require all federal, state, and local agencies,federal and state contractors, and critical infrastructure employees to begin using E-Verify on both new hires and current employees within six months of enactment. Private businesses must begin using E-Verify within two years based on the size of their workforce, and recruitment and referring centers must begin using E-Verify with in one year.
The Legal Workforce Act allows states to continue using their authority over business licensing and similar laws to penalize companies that don't use E-Verify.
The following list shows the percentage of employers in each state that were using E-Verify as of January 2011.For full information, see the Migration Policy Institute.
Number of Businesses Enrolled in E-Verify by State, January 2011 | |||
State | Businesses enrolled in E-Verify | Number of establishments (2008) | Percent of establishments enrolled |
United States | 243,709 | 7,601,169 | 3.2% |
Alabama | 2328 | 103,875 | 2.2% |
Alaska | 427 | 19,934 | 2.1% |
Arizona | 35988 | 140,081 | 25.7% |
Arkansas | 1210 | 66,668 | 1.8% |
California | 20800 | 879,025 | 2.4% |
Colorado | 6775 | 156,684 | 4.3% |
Connecticut | 1661 | 92,597 | 1.8% |
Delaware | 510 | 25,174 | 2.0% |
District of Columbia | 1521 | 21,081 | 7.2% |
Florida | 11067 | 507,027 | 2.2% |
Georgia | 18166 | 227,593 | 8.0% |
Hawaii | 722 | 32,904 | 2.2% |
Idaho | 934 | 46,246 | 2.0% |
Illinois | 6061 | 321,942 | 1.9% |
Indiana | 2480 | 150,101 | 1.7% |
Iowa | 1450 | 82,353 | 1.8% |
Kansas | 2229 | 76,096 | 2.9% |
Kentucky | 1545 | 92,587 | 1.7% |
Louisiana | 1924 | 104,007 | 1.8% |
Maine | 427 | 41,755 | 1.0% |
Maryland | 4296 | 138,607 | 3.1% |
Massachusetts | 3708 | 174,290 | 2.1% |
Michigan | 3178 | 229,310 | 1.4% |
Minnesota | 3833 | 148,845 | 2.6% |
Mississippi | 3949 | 60,918 | 6.5% |
Missouri | 22061 | 152,440 | 14.5% |
Montana | 464 | 37,318 | 1.2% |
Nebraska | 2821 | 52,152 | 5.4% |
Nevada | 1817 | 28,302 | 6.4% |
New Hampshire | 619 | 38,906 | 1.6% |
New Jersey | 4856 | 238,440 | 2.0% |
New Mexico | 1139 | 46,200 | 2.5% |
New York | 6886 | 518,632 | 1.3% |
North Carolina | 5625 | 225,158 | 2.5% |
North Dakota | 335 | 21,558 | 1.6% |
Ohio | 3952 | 263,761 | 1.5% |
Oklahoma | 3254 | 91,382 | 3.6% |
Oregon | 2299 | 111,550 | 2.1% |
Pennsylvania | 4858 | 303,115 | 1.6% |
Rhode Island | 2819 | 29,759 | 9.5% |
South Carolina | 7247 | 106,678 | 6.8% |
South Dakota | 371 | 25,689 | 1.4% |
Tennessee | 3383 | 136,585 | 2.5% |
Texas | 13419 | 522,336 | 2.6% |
Utah | 4319 | 71,433 | 6.0% |
Vermont | 186 | 22,121 | 0.8% |
Virginia | 6706 | 197,716 | 3.4% |
Washington | 4073 | 182,207 | 2.2% |
West Virginia | 399 | 39,641 | 1.0% |
Wisconsin | 2268 | 144,081 | 1.6% |
Wyoming | 344 | 20,785 | 1.7% |