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Rand Paul's beef with immigration reform bill: the E-Verify system

A photo-based E-Verify system for checking workers' legal status 鈥� a key part of the Senate immigration reform bill 鈥� does not mesh well with the libertarian leanings of Sen. Rand Paul (R). His worry: a 'national ID.'

The Senate immigration reform bill will have a prominent challenger when it comes up for a final vote in June: Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky.

Senator Paul has said on several occasions that he wants a reform bill to pass. Even so, he has erected two tall hurdles the immigration bill must clear to gain his approval. One, he wants Congress to certify that the southern border is secure for several consecutive years before the estimated 11 million people living illegally in the US can begin becoming permanent residents.

And on Friday, he laid out a second requirement: nix the worker verification system known as E-Verify, the very one that conservatives have for a decade said is a linchpin of any immigration reform.

鈥淢any see measures contained in this bill, such as a strong E-Verify and a 鈥榩hoto tool,鈥� as a means to control unlawful immigrants鈥� access to unlawful employment. I worry that they go too far,鈥� Paul . 鈥淚 will fight to remove the photo tool from this legislation because I think it will become a national ID.鈥�

Here's what Paul is referring to: The Senate immigration bill contains language that would, over the next five years, expand the nation鈥檚 current photo database system to include all Americans, not just foreigners and US passport holders. Employers would use photos in the database to help validate an employee鈥檚 identity. Currently, the system does not use photographs for identification and is rife with identity theft, as illegal workers use stolen Social Security numbers or forged documents to gain employment.

Many dislike Paul's idea. Removing the photo verification process would undercut immigration laws at the very place where, according to many experts, they are best enforced: at the workplace.聽Turn off the ability to get jobs, their argument goes, and people will have much less incentive to enter the US illegally.

鈥淲ithout the photo tool, all you鈥檙e checking is the name and Social Security number of somebody. It does nothing to stop identity theft,鈥� says Charles Kuck, a Georgia immigration lawyer and the former head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. 鈥淚t takes the complete ability to actually enforce the law out of the process."

To Paul, beefed-up border security, additional safeguards to ensure that illegal immigrants can't receive government benefits, and expanded channels for legal, employment-based migration 鈥� provisions in the reform bill 鈥� are sufficient to address the problem of illegal immigration. Workplace enforcement, he argues, does not need to be added to the mix.

But Paul, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender and the heir to the libertarian following built by his father, former US Rep. Ron Paul, is also worried about government intrusion into Americans' lives and suspicious that the photo identification part of the immigration bill will create an avenue for new intrusions.

鈥淚 worry that the Senate is working to consider a series of little-noticed provisions in comprehensive immigration reform that may provide a pathway to a national ID card for all individuals present in the United States 鈥� citizens and noncitizens,鈥� Paul wrote. 鈥淭hese draconian ideas would simply give government too much power.鈥�

Paul鈥檚 office did not respond to requests for further comment.聽

Kuck says Paul is right to be concerned on one level, noting that the plan 鈥渟macks immediately of a national ID card.鈥澛�

Still, there鈥檚 a big 鈥渂ut鈥�: Many lawmakers and experts believe that a photo-based E-Verify system, along with stepped-up border security, is the most practical deterrent to illegal immigration.

鈥淚f you want to enforce immigration laws and you believe jobs are the magnet ... it鈥檚 really the only effective tool to make sure people aren鈥檛 using fake IDs to work illegally in the United States,鈥� Kuck says.

Paul鈥檚 solutions would not do much to deter those who simply overstay their visas 鈥� perhaps 40 percent of the current undocumented population, Kuck adds.

But Paul faces an ideological conundrum, Kuck says, in that he says he wants to fix the US immigration system but a central tenet of the fix is decidedly unlibertarian. 聽

With Republicans among the Senate鈥檚 鈥淕ang of Eight鈥� negotiators committed to E-Verify and the photo tool, it鈥檚 unlikely that Paul will prevail. In that case, Kuck says, Paul will have to decide whether to compromise or walk.

At the moment, he鈥檚 stuck in the middle.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how you can say the bill isn鈥檛 strong enough on enforcement if you鈥檙e taking away the most effective enforcement tool that exists,鈥� Kuck says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really a case of Rand Paul wanting it both ways.鈥�