E-verify programme opposed by meat industry groups

Six meat industry groups sent a letter to House and Senate bill sponsors Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), opposing the Secure America through Verification Enforcement (SAVE) Act that, if secured, would make a number of changes to the current Basic Pilot/E-Verify programme aimed at identifying illegal workers.

The letter was signed by the American Meat Institute, National Cattleman’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Meat Association, National Pork Producers Council and National Turkey Federation.

The letter stated that, while the groups favour more effective immigration enforcement and have supported the Basic Pilot/E-Verify program, they oppose, “the draconian measures of the SAVE Act that will prove incapable of effective implementation, severely harm US businesses, and fail to address the problem of document fraud that defeats the current employments verification system.”