Despite harsh criticisms, local employers might be jumping on a Web site that helps verify employee immigration status following a presentation by U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-13th District, of Hinsdale.

E-Verify is a Web site designed to determine whether an employee can legally work in the country. A presentation last week in Downers Grove informed local employers of the system. The program featured a live demonstration of the site, which is operated by the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration.

After filling out a series of questions on the site, including birth date, green card number or driver’s license number of an employee, E-Verify will deliver a match for employment or lack there of to employers.

“There is no question that our immigration service is broken,” said Biggert.

Biggert, who delivered the opening and closing remarks, stressed the importance of the site, noting that it will make it harder for illegal immigrants to slip passed employer checks.

Mike Rushin, of Snelling Staffing in Lisle, uses E-Verify for new hires and spoke of his approval of the site at the event.

“I no longer have to rely on my people to make the call on whether the documents are legal or not,” he said.

Valerie Johnson, a recruiter for Advocate Healthcare, has not run into any computer issues with E-Verify in her year and a half of using it and praises what it has done for her employees.

“Our staff really likes E-Verify because they aren’t trained to read documentation,” she said. “None of them felt comfortable deciding if documents were legitimate.”

Previously relying solely on the Form I-9 to verify legal employment, the responsibility to confirm authenticity of documents was with that of the employer.

“I have no problem with legal immigration because that’s what makes our country great,” said Biggert, “but businesses alone shouldn’t have to carry this burden.”

Originally launched as a pilot program in 1997, the tool to verify eligibility status of newly hired employees was met with both approval and criticism.

Timothy Sparapani, American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel, disagrees with the use of the E-Verify system, believing that a demonstration does not always accurately reflect real-life users.

“The system works in its ideal setting where you have a strong Internet connection and a well-trained human resources person with literate computer skills. That doesn’t happen everywhere,” he said. “Who’s going to be there to help those people?”

E-Verify, Sparapani said, can’t provide every employer with solutions and it also can’t be used as a screening tool.

The system is not to be used until after a new hire is made, which some employers at the presentation saw as a downside. The system does not allow employers to process anyone’s information until after they have been hired.

If the site were open to the pre-hire process and were to bounce back with a result other than an initial confirmation, employers may assume that the employee is illegal or at least leave an employee in limbo, Sparapani said.

On top of delays, he said, “the system has tremendously awful quality of data; some is just inaccurate. It’s not just about immigrants; we’re talking about citizens whose data is messed up or confused.”

Katherine Lotspeich, who conducted the demonstration, spoke on the issue of potential issues with slower or incorrect results.

“If (a new employee) has a response that may need more processing time or are not confirmed right away, the temptation for employers may be to not follow up,” she said.

A majority of results yielded, however, show instant positive verification, confirming legal status. Of the 82,000 employers that participate in E-Verify, 94 percent of the queries provide a positive result for employment within seconds, Lotspeich said.

About 5 percent of the queries are undocumented employees and the other 1 percent are those who do not show immediate confirmation but are later authorized, said Lotspeich.

A volunteer-based service, E-Verify hopes to see 100,000 employers using the Web site by year end. A benefit to employers includes protection from potential penalties accompanied with employing illegal immigrants.

“This helps employers have confidence that they are hiring the right people and that can give them comfort,” Biggert said.

Still, Sparapani sees too many problems to make the E-Verify system mandatory.

“Until we address basic concerns,” he said, “E-Verify is nothing more than a wish and a pray.”