Strange bedfellows: E-Verify Bill Against Illegal Workers in Doubt

From The Wall Street Journal:

Conservative, tea-party and libertarian groups have joined liberals in fighting a signature Republican bill in Congress that would crack down on illegal-immigrant workers. The legislation, they argue, would hurt businesses and employees while expanding government regulation.

The bill, by Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R., Texas), would require all employers to use E-Verify, an electronic government database that checks whether new hires are eligible to work in the U.S.

Its prospects had looked good in the GOP-controlled House, where it is to be finished by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Regarded as less controversial than others drafted to tackle illegal immigration, it was seen as able to win bipartisan support in the Senate, too, especially with unemployment high.

Now, the backlash threatens to sideline the bill, as Republicans seek to placate conservatives wary of legislation they consider intrusive and to court Hispanic voters who might deem it discriminatory.

E-Verify works by comparing information entered from an employee's I-9 employment form with Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records. It is used by 4% of U.S. employers. Federal contractors must participate, and a few states also mandate its use.

[F]issures over illegal immigration continue to surface among Republicans as they come under pressure from various interest groups. Businesspeople are pushing for a business-friendly immigration policy. Over the summer, farmer groups descended on Capitol Hill to protest what they see as E-Verify's negative impact on their work force and on U.S. food production. They, too, then launched an online campaign to oppose it.