E-Verify Adds Passport Photo Matching

Homeland Security Department officials on Wednesday announced they have added a passport photo-matching option to a work eligibility system that checks for immigration status, in an effort 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 employees' qualifications.

Last year, the government began requiring federal contractors to use the system for checking the legal status of employees hired for jobs on federal projects. The application works by matching data entered by employers with records in DHS and Social Security Administration computers. Industry groups argue that studies have shown the information in those federal databases contain inaccuracies that employers will have to get fixed.

The system changes are intended to help employers confirm not only work eligibility status, but also identity. "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.