Workplace raids demonstrate the vulnerability of the E-Verify system, experts say [View all]
Source: Yahoo! News/CBS News
Wed, July 16, 2025 at 8:39 PM EDT
Omaha, Nebraska — Gary Rohwer built his QuickSteak empire at a meat processing center in Omaha, Nebraska. But then, a tactical team of federal agents raided his facility on June 10, and more than 70 of his assembly line employees were arrested by Homeland Security Investigations.
He showed CBS News an old company photo, disclosing that about half of the employees in that photo were swept up in the raid. "Oh my God, half of them," Rohwer said. "It makes me sad, it really does, because these guys made us successful." Rohwer said he put his faith in E-Verify — the federal system used by more than 1 million employers each year, and which is mandatory in 10 states and by most federal contractors — to confirm the employment eligibility of would-be hires.
"We did everything right, but yet we got penalized big, I mean, big-time," Rohwer said. The government tells employers like Rohwer that E-Verify provides "peace of mind." To green-light employees, the system matches documents, such as licenses and Social Security cards, to a U.S. government database of eligible workers. But it vets paperwork, not people.
Experts say the E-Verify system is broken, not only exposing employers like Rohwer to raids, but also increasing an all too common crime: identity theft. "This is a nationwide problem," Elhrick Cerdan, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations Omaha, who led the investigation into Gary's QuickSteak, told CBS News.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/workplace-raids-demonstrate-vulnerability-e-003900571.html
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