During its first year in office, the Trump administration made dramatic strides to address the supply side of illegal immigration by securing our borders, detaining those who were apprehended, and halting the abuse of our asylum system. To build on that success, we must also prioritize dramatically reducing the number of people living in the country illegally, estimated to have been at least 18.6 million when the president took office. The enormous illegal immigrant population in the United States also costs American taxpayers roughly $150 billion per year. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, about 442,000 illegal immigrants were deported in fiscal 2025. Along with deportations, to make a real dent in the illegal immigrant population, we must also curtail the pull factors for illegal migration, the strongest of which is potential employment.
KATIE BRITT DROPS E-VERIFY BILL TO STOMP OUT HIRING OF ILLEGAL WORKERS
As it stands today, there is no national standard that mandates the use of E-Verify across the country. Because of that, a bill now before the U.S. Senate — the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026 — would require all U.S. employers to verify the employment eligibility of all hires and screen out illegal immigrants who are barred from employment under federal law.
