Leadership Journal
By Michael Chertoff

Could it be that the Illinois state legislature wants to prevent businesses from using the best available tools to determine whether new employees are illegal aliens? I certainly hope not, but that’s precisely what a new state law is poised to do. The recently authorized changes to Illinois’s “Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act” will place restrictions on the ability of employers in the State of Illinois to enroll voluntarily in our Department’s electronic employee verification system (E-Verify) to check the legal status of workers. This is wrongheaded. It’s also unconstitutional because it is preempted by federal law. That’s why today the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of DHS to overturn the state law (PDF 13 pages - 82 KB).

E-Verify (formerly known as Basic Pilot) is an online system that allows employers to check whether a new worker’s name and Social Security number are valid and the person is authorized to work in our country. The system is easy to use and free of charge. It’s also popular, with more than 23,000 companies enrolled nationwide, including more than 800 in Illinois.

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