Employers have used E-Verify for years. ICE’s arrest of a Maine police officer raises new questions

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine (AP) — The case of a Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities even though he was vetted by a government system called E-Verify is raising questions about what employers can do to make sure they’re employing people who can legally work.

E-Verify is an online system that compares information entered by an employer from an employee’s documents with records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin accused Old Orchard Beach, Maine, of showing “reckless reliance” on the E-Verify program when it hired Jamaica national Jon Luke Evans, who has since agreed to leave the country. But experts say there are few other options