EWIC Letter for the Record – E-verify Hearing

By EWIC

RE: Support for Mandatory E-Verify with Legal Workforce Act Protections and the Need for Legal Immigration Channels

The Honorable Ryan Mackenzie
Chairman
Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
House Committee on Education and Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Ilhan Omar
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
House Committee on Education and Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Omar,

On behalf of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC), we respectfully submit this letter for the record regarding the Subcommittee’s hearing on E-Verify. EWIC is a broad coalition of national businesses, trade associations, and employer organizations committed to sensible, balanced immigration reform that ensures a lawful workforce, protects U.S. workers, and supports the needs of the U.S. economy.

EWIC has long supported a mandatory, national employment verification system—if and only if it is coupled with the strong employer protections and implementation safeguards contained in the Legal Workforce Act (LWA). The LWA framework provides the essential elements necessary for successful nationwide implementation, including:

  • Clear employer safe harbors and a presumption of compliance for good-faith users
  • Uniform federal standards that preempt the patchwork of inconsistent state laws
  • Reasonable phase-in timelines based on employer size
  • Modernized identity verification and anti-fraud tools
  • Fair, predictable penalties and a clear liability structure

These components—also reflected in proposals such as H.R. 2 (2023), the Dignity Act (H.R. 4393), and the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement (EWEA) Act (H.R. 5494)—ensure that E-Verify can be implemented in a workable, legally certain, and business-friendly manner. EWIC urges the Committee to maintain these employer protections and safeguards in any E-Verify legislation moving forward.

It is critical to note that mandatory verification alone will not stop unauthorized employment unless paired with lawful pathways that meet workforce market needs. Without such channels, an expansion of E-Verify to all employers’ risks driving labor underground, destabilizing industries, and harming American businesses while failing to reduce irregular migration.

For this reason, EWIC strongly supports legislative efforts such as the  Essential Workers for Economic Advancement (EWEA) Act, which establishes a legal, market-driven visa channel for year-round essential workers. Providing a regulated and secure alternative to unauthorized hiring is critical to the success of any employment verification program. History has repeatedly shown that enforcement without legal avenues simply shifts unauthorized labor rather than eliminating it.

Pairing mandatory E-Verify with lawful workforce solutions is the only sustainable way to:

  • Reduce incentives for illegal immigration
  • Stabilize the workforce for key industries
  • Provide protections for both U.S. and temporary  workers
  • Strengthen national security and workplace integrity through secured borders

EWIC appreciates the subommittee’s attention to these issues and welcomes the opportunity to support a modernization of the employment verification system that works for employers, employees, and the U.S. economy.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC)