[What] entitles Congress to turn employers into involuntary immigration agents, and to compel them to enforce a federal policy that the government couldn’t enforce? It would be one thing to call for [cracking down] on an employer who hires someone to do work that is in itself illegal, fraudulent, or a threat to public safety. But why should a job applicant’s green card or visa status—which is a matter between him and U.S. immigration officials—impose obligations on an employer willing to pay him honest wages for honest labor? – Jeff Jacoby, Townhall.com 6/16/13
Fact Checker: Jacoby here refers to use of the E-Verify system, which enables employers to determine the legal status of news hires. It’s a quick, easy-to-use system that checks federal data bases to determine whether the employees are illegal aliens. Many employers voluntarily use E-Verify to enable them to comply more effectively with the law against hiring illegal workers. Some members of Congress propose to make E-Verify mandatory, which would make it much more difficult for unauthorized foreigners to take jobs from citizens.
Surely Jacoby exaggerates when he suggests that this requirement would make employers “involuntary immigration agents.” Using E-Verify hardly requires the work of an “agent.” It is a quick and easy way for an employer to make sure he’s following a law designed to benefit his fellow citizens. E-Verify indeed is far less onerous for employers than having to compute tax withholding for their employees. But even so, few would claim that this requirement makes them “involuntary IRS agents.”
When Jacoby asks why a green card or citizenship should matter in employment, he is basically asking why our country and its laws should matter. His position seems to be the libertarian dogma that “freedom” is doing whatever one pleases without reference to duty and loyalty toward one’s countrymen. But without those obligations, society will fall into chaos—and then most likely dictatorship to end the chaos. In the process, freedom will decline toward the vanishing point.