Say that you’re in the market to buy a Ford F-150 pickup truck, and you live in a part of the country where there are several or multiple Ford dealerships competing against one another. You’ve narrowed your decision down to two dealerships which have made competing offers. What if you learned that one of the dealerships E-Verifies its employees and one does not? Would that fact affect your decision? It might.

The feds' voluntary E-Verify program provides the ability to search for the names of employers who E-Verify at E-Verify Employer Search.

Here’s an example of the simple search I did to find auto dealers in New Mexico.

Business name

blank

Account status

open

Opted into E-Verify

yes

State/territory

NM

Industry type

retail trade

Date enrolled

Last 31 years

I suspect that if enough car salesmen lose enough sales because their employer does not E-Verify, that the number of car dealerships that E-Verify would likely increase. That’s a good thing.

This example is just the tip of the search iceberg. There are 20 different industry categories. By way of example, when I searched under the category of “public administration” I discovered that only 10 of NM’s 33 counties are listed as using E-Verify. Of NM’s five most populated counties (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Chaves, and Doña Ana), only Chaves and Doña Ana are listed.

Under the same “public administration” category, only 12 NM cities are listed. Among NM’s five largest cities (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Roswell), only Las Cruces and Roswell are listed.

Under the category of “educational services” only six of NM’s 89 school districts are listed.

I think it would be entertaining to confront public officials in various parts of the country and listen to them explain why their organizations don’t E-Verify.

Image: E-verify