WASHINGTON — As a child, Traci Hong came from South Korea to the United States as a legal immigrant. Fifteen years ago, she became a U.S. citizen.
Yet in March, when Hong, now 37, applied for a congressional staff job, an employee screening system that is the linchpin of the Senate's immigration legislation told a different story: It flagged her as being here illegally.
Hong spent eight days navigating the bureaucracy to correct a database error and convince officials that she was entitled to work here -- and she's an immigration lawyer, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and its law school.
"It really made me realize how difficult it would be for someone who does not have a legal education, higher education, English skills and an understanding employer who allows them to take time off," she said.
The screening system, called Basic Pilot, is run by the Department of Homeland Security. So far, it's being used by only about 16,700 employers -- 2,100 or so in California -- out of 7 million nationwide.
But it would dramatically expand into a national electronic employment verification system under the Senate proposal; within 18 months, it could be used to check every new hire in the country. As the legislation is written, all 150 million workers in the U.S. would have to submit to the checks within three years.
Supporters call Basic Pilot an efficient blueprint to increase enforcement of laws that bar the hiring of illegal immigrants. It is a central component of what has been dubbed the "grand bargain" between Democrats and Republicans on immigration; in fact, the bill's proposed guest worker program couldn't begin until the verification system was capable of screening every new hire in the country.
"That's going to be very hard. It's complex," said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a leading backer of the bill. "It's going to have to work."
But opponents -- who include conservatives, small businesses, human resource managers and civil liberties groups -- are dubious. They say the current program infringes on privacy, doesn't stop identity fraud and will become more expensive and cumbersome as it expands, bogged down by technical problems and a database with inaccurate information.
