Database Doubts

You are a red-blooded, college educated citizen of these here United States. But an imperfect database in the nation’s E-Verify system could make it impossible to get a job, or even lose the one you have. That’s the fear surrounding the effort to make use of the E-Verify system mandatory for all employers. Administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service of the Dept. of Homeland Security, the system depends on a national database of information that is good, but hardly perfect. The system matches identity information provided by newly hired employees against Social Security and Homeland Security records. Errors can occur when, for example, a newlywed adopts a spouse’s name and forgets to advise Social Security or when an employer misspells a foreign name. Shades of Ellis Island with more serious consequences.