During its first year in office, the Trump administration made dramatic strides to address the supply side of illegal immigration by securing our borders, detaining those who were apprehended, and halting the abuse of our asylum system.
To build on that success, we must also prioritize dramatically reducing the number of people living in the country illegally, estimated to have been at least 18.6 million when the president took office. The enormous illegal immigrant population in the United States also costs American taxpayers roughly $150 billion per year.
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According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, about 442,000 illegal immigrants were deported in fiscal 2025. Along with deportations, to make a real dent in the illegal immigrant population, we must also curtail the pull factors for illegal migration, the strongest of which is potential employment.
KATIE BRITT DROPS E-VERIFY BILL TO STOMP OUT HIRING OF ILLEGAL WORKERS
As it stands today, there is no national standard that mandates the use of E-Verify across the country. Because of that, a bill now before the U.S. Senate — the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026 — would require all U.S. employers to verify the employment eligibility of all hires and screen out illegal immigrants who are barred from employment under federal law.
It would also enhance civil and criminal penalties for the employment of illegal immigrants, enhance fraud prevention measures within the E-Verify program, and prohibit states from blocking or preventing employers from using E-Verify.
E-Verify was authorized by Congress in 1996 and was rolled out in 2007. The system is highly reliable. E-Verify has an exceptional accuracy rate, and 97.8% of individuals are confirmed as work-authorized within 24 hours — many within mere minutes — of running a check. The biggest problem with E-Verify is that its use is voluntary in numerous states, meaning that employers who want to continue hiring illegal immigrants can easily do so by simply reviewing documents presented by a potential employee, with no ability or effort to confirm their authenticity. Some states, such as California and Illinois, actively restrict E-Verify usage.
Requiring all employers to use E-Verify, which polling shows is supported by almost 80% of Americans, would discourage illegal immigrants and other unauthorized workers from applying for jobs, knowing that they will not pass the screening process. It also creates a level playing field so that unscrupulous employers — especially in states that don’t mandate E-Verify — cannot gain an advantage over competitors who obey laws and eschew employing illegal immigrants.
Just as tighter border security and the near certainty of being detained upon entry have largely deterred people from attempting to enter the country illegally, mandating the usage of E-Verify has the potential to discourage millions of illegal immigrants from remaining in the country illegally. Ensuring businesses hire only authorized workers also helps to increase wages by stopping illegal migration from undercutting American workers.
TRANSCRIPT: WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN
Even with additional resources and manpower, locating and removing millions of illegal immigrants who are in the country would be a Herculean task without complementary efforts. Eliminating the job market for illegal workers is perhaps the most efficient and cost-effective measure available, which is one of the reasons why the Mandatory E-Verify Act is such an important piece of legislation.
If we’re serious about shrinking the size of the illegal immigrant population, protecting American workers, and fully enforcing our immigration laws, then enacting universal mandatory E-Verify and eliminating the single greatest incentive for illegal immigrants to remain in the country is indispensable to accomplishing those goals.
Katie Britt is a Republican U.S. senator representing the people of Alabama. Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in Washington, D.C.
