Employing nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and having generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the last 15 years, small businesses can be considered the backbone of the American economy. However, U.S Rep. Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) doesn’t want to listen to them.

Small business owners have expressed concerns with regards to Smith’s proposal in Congress to mandate the use of the highly flawed federal program known as E-Verify. The program, which is used by only a tiny fraction of employers, has been strongly criticized because of the negative impacts it would have on the federal budget, on workers, and on small businesses.

Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that if the program were mandatory it would have cost small businesses $2.6 billion in 2010, forcing  them to bear most of the costs. Small business owners would have to pay millions of dollars to verify employees’ work eligibility in a time when they are trying to stretch every dollar to meet payroll, keep people employed, create jobs, and find ways to grow their businesses.

In addition, the flawed system will drive economic activity to the floor, leaving 770,000 American citizens jobless due to errors in the system, costing 3.6 million to the government in mistake corrections, and reducing the federal tax revenues by $17 billion over 10 years. Of course  course, all of this is in addition to the costs related to implementing and complying with the program.

So, the question remains, can we afford this? Probably not! E-Verify is not only bad for employees, but also for the employers who will be losing work hours while workers take time off trying to get their records fixed and, in the case of wrongful terminations, losing trained employees.

In contrast, comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, could cut down on the underground economy, adding $1.5 trillion to the economy over 10 years, which is exactly what we need. Not flawed, costly programs like E-Verify.

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