WASHINGTON — Some unauthorized immigrants with stolen Social Security numbers are able to gain clearance for employment in the United States even after being checked through the federal government's pioneering online E-Verify system, senators and the Migration Policy Institute warned Tuesday.

The senators, led by Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, and the well-known think tank said the loophole must be closed before Congress undertakes comprehensive immigration reform and before the Department of Homeland Security requires federal contractors and recipients of economic stimulus funds to use the federal employment verification system.

“The American public will not put faith in us again if we pass immigration reform without an effective, accurate and enforced employer verification program,” declared Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee panel with jurisdiction over immigration, border security and citizenship.

Schumer called for 10 improvements to existing employee verification, led by requiring biometric proof of identity such as fingerprints or enhanced face-reading biometric photographs.

‘Gaping hole' in E-Verify

The current E-Verify system is “an example of a half hearted and flawed system,” Schumer said at the subcommittee hearing, noting that it does not prevent an illegal immigrant from using the name, Social Security number and address of a U.S. citizen.

Marc Rosenblum, a senior policy analyst with the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C., said a “gaping hole” in E-Verify fails to detect identity fraud.

The voluntary E-Verify system enables employers to submit the names and Social Security numbers of prospective hires to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to verify immigration and employment status.

A total of 137,463 employers are using E-Verify from 517,000 employment sites, including 7,043 employers in Texas.

The program is about to expand to require mandatory E-Verify employment checks by private companies awarded government contracts and firms receiving money from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Mike Aytes, acting deputy director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency that handles E-Verify, told the committee federal authorities are working to provide prospective employers identification photographs beyond just the photographs generated by immigration agencies to help employers verify applicants' identities.

“This would represent a significant enhancement to the system, since new hires most often present a driver's license for (employment eligibility verification) purposes,” Aytes said.