The border is currently being flooded with masses of economic migrants seeking to take advantage of lax immigration enforcement implemented by the Biden administration. This lack of enforcement and plethora of cheap labor creates undue job competition for Americans.
Even though it is illegal to employ illegal aliens and other immigrants without work authorization, many large corporations and other businesses continue to do so without consequence. This not only creates a pull effect for additional economic migrants to come to the U.S. illegally but also drives down wages and job opportunities for American workers.
The “Verify Employment Eligibility” program, better known as E-Verify, is an online system run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allows enrolled employers to confirm employee work eligibility in the United States.
In an effort to deter illegal aliens from coming to his state, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has hung signs on all major highways entering Florida that says, “Florida Uses E-Verify.”
DeSantis told Breitbart, “I want all residents and visitors to receive this message: Florida Uses E-Verify… Requiring use of an employment verification system not only places upward pressure [on]Floridians’ wages, it also protects the public safety. Assuring a legal workforce through E-Verify is crucial to upholding the rule of law and deters illegal immigration into Florida, which is more important than ever given the border crisis.”
E-Verify is available to all U.S. states and territories, but not all states require the use of it. Despite polls showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans support requiring all employers to use E-Verify, it is currently voluntary at the federal level. In fact, only eight states have universal E-Verify requirements. These states saw their influx of illegal aliens decrease by almost 50 percent in recent years. In 2013, Virginia expanded its E-Verify laws, requiring public contractors who hold a contract worth at least $50,000 and employ 50 or more workers to participate in the program. In the year following the expansion, Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped 1.1 percent.
E-Verify plays a critical role in reducing unfair competition from unauthorized workers in the United States, and according to a 2017 FAIR study, in the majority of cases, states that utilize the program experience positive job growth that outpaces national averages.
The United States is still struggling to get back to pre-pandemic employment levels and the unemployment rate for the bottom quartile stood at a horrifying 23 percent as of February. It is absurd to flood the job market with low-skill, low-wage workers thereby increasing unnecessary competition and driving down American employment. If the Biden administration refuses to secure our border, individual states should act themselves by enacting mandatory E-Verify to secure the American job market, thus eliminating much of the pull to our border and their states.