By Jessica Faris
December 17, 2007

House Representative Heath Shuler (NC) introduced a new piece of immigration reform legislation last month that has 122 cosponsors as U.S.Mayor goes to press. The Save America through Verification and Enforcement, SAVE Act (HR 4088) provides for 8,000 new Border Control agents, stricter enforcement of existing immigration laws and a mandatory employer verification system.

Introduced November 6, the bill quickly found support on both sides of the aisle as Republicans and Democrats each signed as cosponsors. SAVE requires all employers to use the federal E-Verify program to ensure workers’ legalization status.

Currently a voluntary program, E-Verify requires workers to submit identification and identifies multiple individuals using the same social security number within seconds. The program would be phased in gradually and mandatory for all employers within four years. E-Verify is a free service run by the Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Social Security Administration.

SAVE increases Border Control along the northern and southern boarders to a total of 22,000 agents, offering student loan repayments and other financial incentives to officers.

In an effort to enforce existing laws and expedite the removal of illegal immigrants, SAVE calls for more federal district court judges and additional alien detention facilities. A multi-lingual media campaign targeting illegal immigrants and employers of illegal immigrants will explain penalties of breaking immigration law.

The act also seeks cooperation between federal agencies. It calls for the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense to share equipment as well as information sharing between the DHS, SSA and IRS.

An identical bill (S 2368) was introduced in the Senate by Senator Mark Pryor (AR) on November 15, but has only one cosponsor.