CATO INSTITUTE REPORT CRITICIZES E-VERIFY

The Cato Institute, a well-known libertarian think tank, has issued a report expressing serious concerns with the E-Verify system that many states are now requiring be used by employers and which will eventually be required of all employers nationally. Cato expressed concern about the reliability of the system and the adverse impact that will be felt by US citizens, particularly naturalized citizens, who are identified mistakenly as unauthorized immigrants. The report also believes E-Verify will encourage identity theft as workers attempt to avoid no match hits by pretending to be someone else. The report also expressed deep concern over the need to create a national ID system as part of implementing E-Verify, something that would be extremely expensive and has privacy implications.