Homeland Security beefs up system to check employment eligibility

Homeland Security Department officials on Wednesday announced they have added a passport photo-matching option to a work eligibility system that checks immigration status, in a move to reduce errors that critics say hurt job growth.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. passport photo-matching capability is aimed at improving the integrity of the Web-based system by allowing it to instantly confirm the authenticity of passport cards that employers use to verify workers' qualifications.

In 2009, agencies began requiring federal contractors to use the system for checking the legal status of employees hired for government projects. The application previously worked by matching data employers enter with DHS to Social Security Administration computer records. Industry groups argue studies have shown information in those federal databases contains inaccuracies employers will have to get fixed.

The system changes are intended to help employers confirm not only work eligibility status, but also identity. The new feature ties in data the State Department maintains. "E-Verify employers are now able to verify the identity of new employees who present a U.S passport or passport card by comparing that data with State Department records," DHS officials said in a statement.

More than 230,000 employers participate in the program, which currently is voluntary in the private sector, according to DHS officials. "Including U.S. passport photo matching in E-Verify will enhance our ability to detect counterfeit documents and combat fraud," Napolitano said in a statement.