The Problem with E-Verify - The ACLU's Chris Calabrese on Immigration Reform

"If E-Verify becomes mandatory, the result will be that you will essentially have to get cleared with a government right-to-work list before you can start a job. And that's a huge change," argues Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for privacy issues at the American Civil Liberties Union.

E-Verify, a government-operated database of everyone legally permitted to work in the United States, is currently used by hundreds of thousands of employers to check the status of their workers. Yet a national identification system has no precedent in the United States. Can E-Verify certify work status for immigrants and native-born workers alike without trampling on our civil liberties?

Chris Calabrese sat down with Todd Krainin of ReasonTV to discuss the problems with national identification cards, new proposals for immigration reform, and how social networking has changed our expectations of personal privacy.

Camera by Josh Swain. Edited by Todd Krainin.

Time: 7:25

Go to http://www.reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notification when new material goes live.

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  News & Politics

[fishblades]

I have no problem with open borders as long as you get rid of the welfare state. Come here to work not for benefits.

[RealityStar9]

Fuck the ACLU. They are actively against the right of individuals to bear arms, they are actively against private property rights, they are actively against religious liberty, they are actively against all liberty that doesn't help their extremist agenda.

[Ken Wilkerson]

I can understand citizens' distrust of a national "right to work" database, or national I.D. cards. But, why do we have to use tax dollars and resources to create another monster bureacracy?

We already have the means to prove citizenship without creating another database. Everyone in this country legally should already have one of 3 documents; a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, or a work visa. Lets use these to prove right to work, and for anyone applying for welfare.

[Niggbo]

or maybe against religious ppl imposing there will on ppl

[morphthecat]

This guest said the Government may dictate how your information could be used on your face book page.

Hate to be the first to inform everyone but as usual it's the "Private Sector" thats stealing the show again.

Yes, our beloved "Private Sector". Americas employers are already using Facebook and every other form of media to make their employees life's miserable.

So much for "The Job creators will do the right thing without regulation"

Not so much,

Regulation is ALWAYS necessary.

[rhrabar0004]

I love how the libertarians at ReasonTV aren't afraid to pair up with the ACLU to protect the rights of immigrants! I don't agree with their economics, but I'm all for their cautious skepticism of monopoly power and policy which degrades personal liberty.

YouTube "Glenn Greenwald surveillance state." To hear a great lecture on the state of our civil liberties today :)

[IBMeddling]

unless people speak out now...in the future you will need to "E-Verify" just to buy a loaf of bread.

[carultch]

Thank you, Milton Friedman. I certainly agree.

[Moonshield23]

You had me till amnesty

[bill07407]

The ACLU hates America

[r29]

there are no countries, land is own by individuals not groups. I have never seen a "country." Unless you own all the land in the USA you have no power to control where i can go or not to go. And i don't care if you vote for someone who thinks he has that power. I can go where ever i want as long as the land owner allows me. And no the government does not own the country. The market is on my side. The reality is that i can go anywhere i want.

[Joeziah Babb]

cato's chief immigration researcher has said many times that illegal immigrants actually often under use welfare benefits and work at the same time.

Its interesting as people try to demonize illegal immigrants because we have welfare benefits, but most of those people work and have no legal means to access the majority of welfare plus having to pay into a fake social security number and never receive benefits from it.

On the whole they are beneficial to the economy.