On Thursday, U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Alabama, introduced the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026, legislation that would permanently reauthorize the government’s E-Verify program and mandate its use by all employers in the U.S.
First launched as a pilot program in 1996, E-Verify is an online service managed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that employers can use to verify an employee’s eligibility for employment in the United States. The program compares information from an employee’s Form I-9 to records at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
While Alabama and several other states already require employers to use E-Verify, there is currently no federal requirement mandating that all American employers use the program.
In an official statement, Britt claimed her legislation would reduce illegal immigration rates by discouraging the employment of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
“If you come to this country illegally, you shouldn’t be here to begin with, and you shouldn’t be working in the United States,” Britt said. “This legislation builds on Republicans’ historic success in securing our border after four years of disastrous, America Last policies under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by eliminating the largest magnet for illegal immigration.”
“We should enforce the law and ensure jobs go to Americans, not illegal aliens,” Britt said. “E-Verify works, evidenced by the more than 43 million times it was used in 2025 alone. This is a common-sense bill that everyone should be able to get on board with, and I will work diligently to usher this legislation through the Senate and get it to President Trump’s desk.”
Employers who fail to implement E-Verify under Britt’s bill would be subject to criminal penalties for the unlawful employment of aliens as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Britt’s legislation would also increase the financial penalties for unauthorized employment and strengthen measures against identity theft or the fraudulent use of Social Security account numbers for E-Verify.
The Mandatory E-Verify Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee; Ted Budd, R-North Carolina; Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia; Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi; and James Lankford, R-Oklahoma.
The legislation has also been endorsed by several conservative, anti-immigration advocacy groups, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA, Immigration Accountability Project, Heritage Action and the National Immigration Center for Enforcement.
If ultimately passed into law, the Mandatory E-Verify Act would be rolled out in phases based on industry and employer size, with most employers being subject to the act’s provisions within 18 months after its passage.
