The federal government has a program called E-Verify, with which it can quickly determine whether a person is legally eligible to work in the United States. That's important, because the United States has perhaps 11 million to 20 million illegal aliens, millions of whom are unlawfully employed.
And so, since the federal government has authority over immigration, Republicans in the House of Representatives are reasonably supporting a bill that would require employers to use the free E-Verify program to confirm that employees are eligible to work in this country.
That seems like a sensible proposal. After all, about 250,000 employers in the United States already use E-Verify, and 18 states require the use of E-Verify by some or all of their employers.
Not surprisingly, agricultural interests that rely on cheap illegal alien labor are opposed to the use of E-Verify because it would cut down on the supply of low-wage labor. We understand their concern about losing a source of inexpensive labor, but that is not a reason to allow them to continue hiring vast numbers of illegal aliens.
In a time of 9.1 percent nationwide unemployment, illegal aliens should not be taking jobs that could otherwise be filled by out-of-work Americans.
It is past time for the federal government to take seriously its responsibility to uphold our immigration laws.