E-Verify is a government program originally designed to support employers during the Form I-9 process—offering what many assumed would be a comprehensive, one-stop compliance solution. E-Verify’s mission: help employers verify that new hires are who they say they are and are authorized to work in the United States. But here’s the problem: E-Verify doesn’t verify identity and minimally supports verification of IDs.

What the Law Requires. The Form I-9 obligates every U.S. employer to validate two things for each new hire:

1. Identity – That the individual is who they claim to be

2. WorkAuthorization – That the individual is legally allowed to work in the U.S.

If you’re a U.S. citizen, both identity and work authorization can be proven with a U.S. passport. Alternatively, a combination of documents can be used—like a state-issued driver’s license (identity) plus a Social Security card (work authorization).

There are over 190 valid ID combinations and nearly 1,000 types of legitimate IDs accepted for the I-9. Without access to the issuing databases—and the ability to match the document to the actual human—it’s impossible for employers to truly authenticate these IDs.

What E-Verify Actually Does. E-Verify provides indirect access to limited government databases and performs the following:

o   Verifies that the name matches the Social Security Number via the Social Security Administration (SSA)

o   Performs Photo Matching for:

o   U.S. Passports & Passport Cards

o   Permanent Resident Cards (Form I-551)

o   Employment Authorization Documents (Form I-766)

If one of these three documents is submitted, E-Verify displays a stored photo from government records, allowing the employer to compare it to the physical document. However, this is neither an identity check (no 1:1 match between the ID face images returned from the database v. the face image the employer has of the new hire) nor an ID check.

It is a help, yes, that there is some assurance that the face image provided is the same the federal government has, but there is no check to determine if that identity was stolen and placed in anew ID, for example, or whether any of the fields on the ID presented by the new hire matches the ID the government has, as the government is not doing that check.

What E-Verify Does Not Do. Despite its name and intent, E-Verify does not verify the ID document itself. It cannot:

o   Verify that the passport number on the document matches State Department records

o   Cross-check Permanent Resident Cards or EADs against US Citizenship and Immigration Service's (USCIS) own issuance data

o   Validate the authenticity of any driver’s license or state ID—there are over 850 typesin circulation

o   Confirm issuance of military IDs, Coast Guard IDs, or tribal documents

o   QueryCanadian driver’s license authorities

o   Detect fake, altered, or borrowed IDs

o   Provide any fraud determination capability

E-Verify does not confirm if the ID presented was issued to the person presenting it but for the Social Security number.

So Why Use E-Verify? Today,E-Verify is valuable not because it guarantees identity and work authorization, but because it offers:

o   RemoteForm I-9 Completion. Enables remote hires via video conference for employers in good standing—avoiding the need for costly third-partyAuthorized Representatives.

o   CredibleDeniability. If audited by ICE or DHS, employers can point to a validE-Verify result as part of a good-faith compliance effort.

But make no mistake: E-Verify cannot protect you from a bad hire using false credentials.

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